Lisbon, July 4, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's foreign minister, Paulo Rangel, said on Friday that the European Union must strengthen the security of its external borders so that the Schengen area can recover from a “challenging situation.”
“It is very important to think about Schengen, because it is experiencing challenges and facing opportunities,” said Paulo Rangel during his speech at the conference “Protecting Europe: facing today’s and tomorrow’s challenges,” an initiative of the European People’s Party (EPP) group in the European Parliament, which is taking place today in Lisbon.
“The European Union has a responsibility to ensure that the external borders are secure” because, when this is not guaranteed, “states tend to create internal barriers that restrict freedom of movement,” he said.
The minister considered that states should remain within their capacity to receive people and keep them in decent living conditions.
“We must honour capacity limits and welcome migrants only when we can ensure adequate resources,” he stressed.
“For people to live a dignified and respectful life, we must maintain border controls,” said Paulo Rangel, arguing that “if they enter without criteria and regulation, many will face exploitation and undignified conditions, and this will create tension in communities.”
Paulo Rangel affirmed the importance of security and emphasised that highlighting its need, whether regarding cybercrime, critical infrastructure, or other components, actually strengthens freedom.
‘In all Portuguese Constitutions, the right to freedom is called the right to freedom and security. Because it is to defend freedom that we prioritise security,’ he explained.
‘We are a party and a group in favour of freedom and fundamental rights, and because we want them to be real and effective, we focus on security,’ added Rangel.
He added that it is “fundamental to convey the idea to citizens [that] when we want cybersecurity, digital security or security in Artificial Intelligence, we seek to safeguard individual freedoms and to defend freedom.”
PMC/ADB // ADB.
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