The 70-year-old Luxembourgish official, who will only be in Lisbon for a few hours to take part in the parade organised by the 50th anniversary of 25 April commemorative commission for Thursday afternoon, starting at Marquês de Pombal, explained that the main purpose of his presence is to "pay tribute to the Portuguese people for what was done" and which has allowed Portugal to be today "an important country in the European Union (EU)", which it joined in 1986, 12 years after the revolution.

The main candidate of the European Socialists for the elections next June also stressed the message that "now it is about defending what was achieved in 1974", and which was not limited to the transition to democracy, since it was also about guaranteeing "fundamental rights and changing a society".

"And I believe that, over the years, Portuguese society has changed immensely, [from] women's rights to all kinds of fundamental rights. Defending democracy is still an important issue, including in Portugal," he said.

Commenting on the fact that, on the 50th anniversary of 25 April, the far right is more represented than ever in the Assembly of the Republic, the Luxembourgish official reiterated that this is a phenomenon that is not limited to Portugal and that must be taken "seriously".

"I think that what we didn't believe in happened," he said, noting that "the far right is now in parliaments", in Portugal, "but not only, it also happened in Spain and also happened in a country like Germany", among other cases.

"This reinforces my strong belief that we have to take this seriously and we really have to understand why people have short memories and now give this support to far-right parties. And this should really encourage us to do more to defend democracy and also to respond to concerns. Because there is always a cause, and I don't think that all people are far right: they vote for these parties as a protest, because they have the feeling that they were not heard or understood enough," he commented.

Considering that this is a mission that falls to "democrats, and in particular to European socialists", Schmit, European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs in the current EU executive led by Ursula von der Leyen - in turn the main candidate of the European People's Party -, guaranteed that this will be one of the main concerns of his campaign until the European elections next June.

"It is my vision for Europe - a strong Europe, a socialist Europe and a democratic Europe. That is my vision and that is what we have to defend in all Member States, including in Portugal," he concluded.

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