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Former MEP Ana Gomes, candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, considered this Monday that “it is the obligation of the Portuguese State, both in relation to Portuguese citizens who are minors, and in relation to national and European security interests, not shirk their responsibilities and pick up the children, their mothers and integrate them into a program of vigilance and de-radicalization ”.
Ana Gomes was heard as a witness in the trial of jihadists Portuguese, cataloged by the lawyer of Rómulo Costa, one of the defendants in the case, for having received communications from him and his father (grandfather of the children) as a European deputy. After the hearing, he told reporters that “there are several countries that have taken their own children and integrated them into de-radicalization programs, as I think should be done,” but “there are other countries that have not been, that have lost interest. ” .
The former European deputy says she does not know in which of the cases Portugal fits. “I never had an answer to the communications I had with the Portuguese State on this matter, that is, channeling MNEs [Ministério de Negócios Estrangeiros] the information I obtained as a result of these contacts that were made with my office ”, guaranteed Ana Gomes.
Even so, the candidate for the Presidency of the Republic emphasizes that “the Portuguese State cannot pretend that the problem does not exist”: “If we lose interest, then it should come as no surprise that resentment and opportunities for radicalization turn against our collective security“, Ana Gomes considered in statements to journalists.
Regarding the role of the European Union in the fight against terrorism and radicalization, Ana Gomes stressed that, “as a European deputy who has worked specifically in the investigation committees on terrorism”, she knows that “it is not due to a lack of interest commitment of the authorities At the European level there is no coordinated policy ”. “Because the governments of the various member states continue to understand that security and defense issues, including the fight against terrorism, must be done from a national perspective, disjointed “.
