“We do not want people in Portugal that could be a threat,” says Minister of Foreign Affairs

Brussels – The Minister of Foreign Affairs considered the issue of Portuguese citizens with ties to the jihadists to be “very complex”, because the state must provide protection to nationals, but does not want in Portugal “people who could constitute a threat”.

At the end of a meeting of European Union diplomats in Brussels, Augusto Santos Silva confirmed that one of the points addressed in the discussion on Syria was the appeal made by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to the European countries , to repatriate and try their fighters from the extremist Islamic State (EI) group detained in Syria, something that EU diplomats have warned would not be “so easy” to solve.

“This is not easy to resolve, this is not just a matter of making a statement,” said Santos Silva, stressing that “this situation is very complex” since it is necessary to consider variables such as the duty to provide consular protection to national citizens, but taking into account also national security and obligations of EU member states, NATO and the international anti-Daesh coalition (acronym in Arabic for EI).

In the case of Portugal, where the issue of citizens with some kind of connection with the EI has a “very small” scale compared to other EU Member States, Santos Silva said that the case of two Portuguese citizens – in Syria, after being captured by the Kurdish forces of the terrorist group, who were involuntarily joined by family members – who asked for help from the Portuguese authorities.

“Yes, we have information about the presence of people who are or have been linked to Daesh fighters in Syria. Some of these people have descendants under their care, children, and we have received information about conditions of deprivation that they easily imagine lived by these people and children, “he said.

The minister admitted that “as Portuguese citizens, these people have the right to consular protection of Portugal,” but emphasized that “this consular protection of Portugal has to be exercised taking into account the other variables that are at stake here, the main one of which is a variable relating to Portuguese national security and, secondly, to Portugal’s obligations as a member of the international anti-Daesh coalition and as a member of the EU and NATO. ”

“So this situation is very complex, because at the same time we have to balance the issues of protecting our compatriots, whatever they have done and wherever they are and whatever the situation they are experiencing” , admitted Santos Silva.

On the other hand, he added, it is necessary to “take into account the issues related to the national security of Portugal and the security of the Portuguese.”

“We do not want people in Portugal who could be a threat to the way of life, the values ​​and the people of the Portuguese,” he said, noting that Portuguese citizens were also victims of terrorist attacks in other countries.

Concerning Trump’s appeal, Santos Silva says that, as always, Europeans have “carefully” heard the statements of their “American friends and allies,” but insisted that the issue should be resolved in a coordinated and careful manner.

In the case of Portugal, he assured, the objective is to seek “a solution that will never be the best possible, because the best possible were these people did not let themselves embark on an adventure, if it was an adventure, or these people did not accept to be part, directly or indirectly, of one of the most sinister organizations and that most threatens freedom, democracy and security, “he said.