António Tânger is a Portuguese diplomat and politician who was Portugal’s ambassador for forty years in countries such as Brazil, Bosnia, Serbia, Israel, Egypt, and Qatar. He was Secretary General of the Centrist Youth (CDS-PP) and, in 1980, advisor to the minister of foreign affairs, Diogo Freitas do Amaral. Tânger returned to politics under André Ventura; he is currently first vice-president of CHEGA’s national board and head of the party’s list for the European Parliament.
Recently, an individual was arrested for attempting to attack CHEGA’s headquarters. Is this a difficult campaign for your party?
Apparently it was a person with mental problems, which we now know, but he said that he was carrying a rucksack with explosives and that he wanted to kill André Ventura. Our president was in Madeira, so he was not in any danger; and, in the end, this individual did not have explosives. In other words, it was all a false alarm. However, we cannot let our guard down in the face of this type of event, because one day it could be true.
As for the campaign, it is very similar to the general election campaign. André and I are going around the country to mobilise the vote. Also, our list of candidates is better than the other parties’ because we have experts in international relations and European affairs, which the other lists don’t have. And we have the support of André, with his dynamism and his ability to reach out to people, so I am sure we will have a great campaign.
Your campaign slogan is, “Europe needs cleaning up.” What does CHEGA want to clean up?
For CHEGA, the most important thing in Europe is what is most important for Portugal, and that is three things: agriculture and fisheries, corruption, and immigration. Those are for us the main concerns. Therefore, we want to put on the table everything that affects the Portuguese people, from the treaties to the 2030 agenda, without forgetting other important issues such as the pandemic agenda. There is a lot to clean up in Europe.
What model does CHEGA advocate for the European Union?
Since the beginning of the European project, there have been two sides: the path of a federalist Europe and the path of a Europe of nations. CHEGA is clearly committed to the latter and denounces the fact that the Lisbon Treaty, which was carried forward after the failure of the so-called European Constitution, contains federalist elements that go against Portugal’s interests. We want a Europe that respects the treaties, that seeks collaboration between the nations that comprise it, and that seeks peace and progress. What we do not want is the imposition of federalist rules that seek to turn European citizens into citizens of Brussels.
Polls for the European elections put you above 17%, very close to the Socialists and AD (Democratic Alliance – Popular Party).
We have considered that this is really a three-way campaign between AD, the Socialists, and CHEGA. Our aim is to make a push in the final stage of the campaign to get ahead, because the trend is that we are growing while they are losing votes.
CHEGA has also grown in voting intentions for a new general election. The AD preferred to negotiate with the Socialists before making a pact with CHEGA. Do you think that the reason for this growth is that the AD is giving oxygen to a socialist party mired in corruption?
Of course it is. Many people voted for AD in order to defeat the socialists, and many people voted for CHEGA in order to facilitate a coalition between AD and CHEGA that would govern the country, for the first time, with a large right-wing majority. Instead of listening to the country and forming a majority government, AD has preferred to stay in the minority with a weak and incapable government. For this reason, many of those who voted for AD are frustrated to see that its leader, Luis Montenegro, is following the line of centrality and bipartisanship. It is the same approach that they have agreed with the socialists for the last fifty years and that has brought us to this point. The Portuguese people wanted to put an end to that, and their vote in the elections was very clear in that sense. The fact that Montenegro has denied that majority is going to come at a price.
Turning to Europe, CHEGA belongs to the Identity and Democracy group. What do you think of what happened with AfD?
We condemn the statements of the head of the AfD list and consider them unacceptable. This is why Marine Le Pen and Salvini have decided to expel AfD from ID. In my opinion, once the election results of the 9th are in, we have to see what the strength of the Right and the centre-right is and see if it is possible to form a large majority with our common ideas. It is clear that there are many differences between the parties, but the essential thing is to share the same objectives. From 9 September onwards, we must work very seriously on a new dynamic capable of creating a third force that can change things.
Some believe it is possible to bring the EPP to the Right, but the experience of Portugal shows that it can be a very difficult task.
It will not be easy, because the EPP is not what it used to be. Many years ago, I was the secretary general of the CDS youth, and I worked a lot with the EPP. What we have now has nothing to do with what it was then, although there are still parties with positive values. However, in Portugal, they prefer the Socialists.
