João Oliveira, former parliamentary leader of the PCP, spoke at the end of a luncheon rally in São João da Talha, municipality of Loures, before the speech by the communist secretary-general, Paulo Raimundo.

In a much-applauded speech, the "number one" of the CDU in the European Parliament elections began by saying that his political force is heading into the electoral act of June 09 next "with batteries charged, with heads held high and chests puffed out".

João Oliveira stressed that, for the PCP, Portugal's exit from the European Union is not an option. And he denied the idea that his party's positions lead the country to isolation in terms of external relations.

"It is exactly the opposite: we defend enlargement to other peoples and other States, because the euro and the rules of the single market contribute to the narrowing of our international relations only with the countries of the European Union. Now, the European Union is very small for the foreign policy space that the Portuguese people have to make", he argued.

After a closed attack "on Portugal's submission to impositions from Brussels", João Oliveira pointed out as the main example of a decision contrary to the interest of the Portuguese people the increase in interest rates decreed by the European Central Bank -- a set of measures "in the name of a supposed fight against inflation" and which generated "scandalous increases in banking profits and the ruin of many families".

"What good is a single currency that proves to be too expensive for our economy? What good is it to tell a young person that they can go to Prague without exchanging money if they don't even have the means to leave their parents' house? We need to face these impositions from the European Union that harm us", he said.

In this context, the CDU's leading candidate also pointed out as an example of the harmful consequences of European policies the municipality of Loures, which has lost several large industries in recent years.

"Without production, there is no quality employment. We do not want Portugal to become a holiday resort", he said.

Without referring directly to the issue of the war in Ukraine, the member of the PCP's Political Commission defended peace and invoked for this purpose April 25, 1974, "a revolution that put an end to the colonial war".

At this point, he left a warning: "With the specter of war, with increasingly bleak prospects for our societies, peace must be the response of the Portuguese people. If we reach the point of seeing our children and grandchildren being mobilized for a war, then it may already be too late".

In the first speech of the session, Mariana Silva, from the executive committee of the PEV and CDU candidate in the European elections, defended as a priority for action the fight against climate change and the development of a public transport network.

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