The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, defended today that Portugal should not ration gas, as defended by the European Union, because this measure could not help other countries.

“It cannot be Portugal and Spain standing together, collaborating, sacrificing their nationals, while what gas they could give is not used by other European countries, because there is no possibility of connection with these countries,” the head of state said in press releases. to journalists.

The European Commission on Wednesday presented a European plan to reduce gas consumption in the European Union by 15% until spring, when Russian supply is feared, admitting to carry out a mandatory reduction in demand in the face of the alert.

On Thursday, the environment minister repeated his rejection of the European Commission’s proposal and replied that Portugal believed that this issue should be negotiated in the European Council.

Speaking today on the sidelines of an initiative in which he took part, in Fafe, in the district of Braga, which marked 48 years of democracy in Portugal, the President of the Republic recalled: “The problem [do gás] It is very simple, as the government has stated. It is perfectly understandable that we would be ready to ration gas, when we have it, if it serves an interest, a European need”.

However, he continued, “Portugal and Spain have tried to defend the interconnection, that is, the departure of gas from Portugal and Spain to France and the rest of the ‘Europe and it has not been allowed so far”.

Marcelo recalled that there have been several “wave” promises of gas leaving the Iberian Peninsula to other destinations, such as “a good idea, but which is to be built, which would be a gas pipeline that would connect Spain to Spain. Italy and so on”. to other countries “countries”.