Former Prime Minister Durão Barroso, who held the position between 2002 and 2004, and 20 years after becoming president of the European Commission, makes a negative analysis of the current socialist executive and says that “Portugal is today the poorest in Western Europe ”.
“Portugal is today the poorest in Western Europe, as it was before April 74”, said Durão Barroso in an interview with ‘SIC Notícias’.
When talking about his legacy as the first Portuguese to lead the European Union, he says he “brought a Portuguese sensitivity to his duties”, and recalls his attempts to persuade Angela Merkel “to be more generous in extending maturities and reducing interest rates on countries under the program, such as Portugal”.
Furthermore, after having held positions as secretary of state, minister, leader of the opposition and head of government, he also emphasizes that “being President of the Republic is the greatest honor that a Portuguese person can have at national level”.