The coordinator of BE, Mariana Mortágua, said today that the prime minister owes the country an explanation about the stopover he made in Hungary, something she classified as “regrettable”, and argued that this would allow the matter to be closed.
“I think it was time that the prime minister could respond to the criticism that has been made and that I think is very fair,” said the bloquista coordinator.
In a press conference at the end of a meeting of BE’s National Bureau in Lisbon, the deputy was questioned about the silence of the Prime Minister, after news reports that he made a stopover in Budapest, while traveling in an Air Force aircraft, and watched the final of the Europa League alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to use public resources, namely the Falcon, which is a means of transportation and travel that the Prime Minister has for official visits, to make a short stop to watch a soccer match, and even more so to do it next to an authoritarian leader of the extreme right, as is the case of Viktor Orbán,” criticized Mariana Mortágua.
The BE coordinator classified as “regrettable this decision by the prime minister, for its political consequence regarding the presence in the same space as this authoritarian leader” and also “for the use of public resources that was made, thoughtlessly, eventually”.
Speaking of a “stoppage decided in a personal way” by António Costa, Mortágua considered that “there was no obligation to go see a soccer match” to Hungary.
“And it would be better for everyone if the Prime Minister could clarify this issue, so that we can close it once and for all,” he defended, even pointing out that Costa “owes the country” this clarification about “an episode, an incident created by the Government’s lack of common sense.”
Mariana Mortágua also defended that “the country has much more important things to worry about at the moment, from the recent announcement of the increase in interest rates for home loans by the European Central Bank, to the very serious problems of access to housing because of rent prices.
“I think that should be the center of the problems of politics,” he pointed out, considering it “regrettable that the Government wastes so much time managing its own cases, which it creates, and that it also has so little time left to deal with the problems of the country.”
António Costa stopped off in Budapest on May 31 while on his way to Moldova for the European Political Community summit, without the event having been put on the agenda, Observador reported.
According to the same newspaper, the head of the Portuguese government traveled in a Portuguese Air Force Falcon 50 and watched the Europa League soccer final match between Sevilla and Roma, the Italian team coached by José Mourinho, alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The Lusa news agency questioned the Prime Minister’s office, which has been criticized by the opposition, but did not get an answer so far.
Questioned by journalists on Friday, the President of the Republic said he had been informed of this stopover.
“The Prime Minister was going to an international meeting and thought he should give José Mourinho a hug. He told me ‘he’s a Portuguese guy who’s involved, I’m going to give him a hug, maybe he’ll be lucky’ and he almost went for it,” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasized.
Already on Saturday, the head of state said he saw no “specific political problem” in the prime minister’s stopover in Hungary, stressing that the two countries are allies in the European Union.
Marcelo sees no “specific political problem” in Costa’s stopover in Hungary
