Several European countries have expressed concern over and even condemnation of ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine.
During a meeting on Thursday with Ukrainian Charge d’affaires in Egypt, Ruslan Nechai, the ambassadors of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden and representatives of the Italian and Spanish embassies in Cairo, expressed support to what they described as the ‘victims’ of Russian military actions.
“It is important to make it clear that this is an unacceptable situation,” Portugal’s Ambassadress to Egypt, Manuela Franco, said.
“It contradicts the United Nations Charter, which was founded to stand by peoples’ right to self determination,” she told The Egyptian Gazette following the meeting.
Ambassadress Franco said every people organised as a political community is entitled to exercise the right to self-determination.
She said Ukraine respects the exercise of self-determination and wanted to stay as an independent nation when the Soviet Union came apart.
“These choices have to be respected,” the Portuguese ambassadress said.
The Ukrainian people, she added, have the right to choose their own government like all other peoples.
She noted that foreign diplomatic missions in Cairo have different concerns.
These concerns, she said, have to be allayed.
“These nations have interests and connections, not just in this case,” she said.
She added that Portugal is a member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
The country’s reactions, she said, would be within these two groups.
Even without these groups, she added, Portugal would always be on the side of peoples’ right to self-determination.
“The European Union is rolling out measures,” Ambassadress Franco said. “Some states may resort to other measures on an individual basis.”
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