President, PM call on emigrés, and offspring, to “come back to Portugal!”

President António José Seguro, has said today that Portugal is now a modern country “that wants its people back”.

The president was speaking at an event with the Portuguese community in Luxembourg, marking the start of the Portugal Day celebrations (on Wednesday, NB this will be another national public holiday).

Accompanied by prime minister Luís Montenegro, President Seguro described Portugal as “an extraordinary place to live”.

The country has “development potential”, he stressed, suggesting this is the time for all those who fled in search of a ‘better life’ to come back.

“Portugal needs all of you, and we are counting on you greatly for our future. Whether that future is built here in Luxembourg, whether that future is built on the return to Portugal that we hope many of you will make, or whether that future is built with families who have a presence in both Portugal and Luxembourg,” said the president.

Minutes later, he was even clearer, writes Lusa, saying that Portugal “is a country that wants to welcome back its own”

“Those who emigrated and those born abroad, but who feel Portugal is a part of them” should be returning, to help the country realise its potential.

President Seguro recalled what he had recently told young Portuguese people in Madrid, during his first visit since taking office on March 9: “Portugal is an extraordinary country to live in. And it must also be an extraordinary country to work in. That is a commitment I make.” (But as a number of those young people, living and working in Spain, explained at the time, they chose to leave their own country because the salaries paid here are generally abysmal.)

Nonetheless, the theme was shared with prime minister Luís Montenegro who gave an assurance that the government remains “firmly committed, alongside the Presidency of the Republic and the Assembly of the Republic”, to strengthening ties between Portugal and its emigré communities.

“We want a state that is ever closer to the Portuguese abroad, regardless of distance. There is still much, much to be cultivated and done to bring us closer together, and to harness all the potential that this closeness can offer us,” he said.

In their speeches, President Seguro and Mr Montenegro welcomed Portugal’s recent election to the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member and praised the country’s situation.

Portugal “is a modern country, open to the world, committed to innovation and the exchange of knowledge. A country that has undergone profound change in recent decades, with a strong contribution from the diaspora,” Seguro emphasised.

“Portugal is today a country that combines its geostrategic location with added value given the current international geopolitical climate, a hard-working people, a people with a desire to take knowledge, science, innovation and creativity further,” the prime minister added.

Both men highlighted the dynamism of the Portuguese community in Luxembourg, which accounts for over 13% of the country’s population, and thanked the Grand Duke for attending the ceremony.

This was the first Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities celebrations, and also the first to be marked jointly by President Seguro and prime minister Montenegro.

Initiatives leading up to June 10 will continue in Portugal on Terceira Island (Azores: the home of Lajes Air Base) on Tuesday and Wednesday.

source: LUSA