Lisbon, Oct. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese president said on Wednesday that Europe "reacts with fear" to the arrival of immigrants because it is an ageing continent and considered that balancing the "wave against immigration" is a "very difficult task".
In a speech at the closing of the Millennium Talks Lisbon - COTEC Innovation Summit conference at FIL exhibition centre in Lisbon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that Portugal and Europe are witnessing a "wave of opposition to migration," considering that balancing this attitude is "a very difficult task."
"It is a very difficult task to balance the wave that is being experienced in the world, in Europe and also in Portugal, which is a wave against migration. It is a fact. It has nothing to do with force A, B, C, D, because it is all over Europe. It is an old, ageing continent, reacting with fear," he argued.
For Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, this fear has been accentuated by the pandemic and "has nothing to do with statistical reality, but with people's psychological reality".
The country's president considered that "the analysis of [immigration] in France or Germany has been copied" and emphasised, to illustrate the contradiction between statistics and perceptions, that there is no significant number of Muslim or Arab immigrants in Portugal.
In managing the migration issue, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasised the importance of "not burning bridges with the CPLP" (the Community of Portuguese Language countries), because these countries can contribute to key areas of the Portuguese domestic economy, such as public construction work, catering and hospitality, and social institutions.
The country's president stated that, in these areas, "the Portuguese are being replaced by Brazilians, Angolans, Cabo Verdeans, Ukrainians", adding that "in the past" countries "when talking about regulation" prioritised certain immigrants, as Luxembourg did in relation to the Portuguese.
"In the past, countries thought this way when talking about regulation. This is how Luxembourg opted for Portuguese nationals at the time. It made a choice. It opted. And it therefore created more favourable conditions for Portuguese nationals than for Yugoslavs, Spaniards, Italians, North Africans and other neighbouring countries," he added.
In the same speech, he stressed the importance of Portugal "doing well" in a context where the world is not, highlighting Portuguese figures on economic growth, tourism and foreign investment.
"There is no doubt that Portugal is safe, well located geographically, with unique weather conditions, unique hospitality, unique nature, human availability (...) everyone here, who can travel the world, knows that it is increasingly rare to have this combination of conditions," he added.
TYRS/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
