"This is a path that you can hardly imagine, the difficulties, the obstacles, to reach this stage. There are nine different countries, with different states of evolution, countries with commitments, some with the European Union, others with Mercosur, others with SADC, countries from different continents, to reach an understanding, a consensus on the mobility agreement was a tremendous task", considered Jorge Carlos Fonseca.
The Cape Verdean Head of State was speaking to the press in the city of Praia after a meeting with the Government about the Cape Verdean presidency of the CPLP, assumed two years ago by the country and extended until 2021 due to covid-19.
Jorge Carlos Fonseca, acting president of the community, stressed that many people were committed to this agreement and that the country is proud that the mobility of Portuguese-speaking citizens among the nine member states is one of the main themes of this presidency.
The consensus was reached at the meeting of the CPLP Council of Ministers last week by videoconference and was presided over from the city of Praia by Cape Verde.
The draft mobility agreement proposed by Cape Verde will now be ratified at the summit of heads of state and government scheduled for July 2021 in Luanda.
The Cape Verdean President pointed out that the agreement has not yet been signed and that before the Luanda summit there will still be a technical meeting "to plan some technical, administrative issues".
Among these, Jorge Carlos Fonseca gave as an example whether there is visa exemption or the issuing of documents will be free or paid for, "because countries have different ambitions.
"And possibly each country will assume its own position," he pointed out, indicating that before the summit there will still be an extraordinary "important meeting" of the Council of Ministers, which will approve the draft agreement and recommend its signature to the heads of state and government.
"There are still these meetings to be held, but from what we have so far we are very optimistic that things will go very well and that at the Luanda summit we will have the pleasure of delivering a draft agreement already agreed and for signature," he predicted.
As for the agreement, Jorge Carlos Fonseca pointed out that it is of variable geometry, open, in which each country accepts the model according to its specificities and needs.
The meeting, chaired by the President of the Republic, was attended by the Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Communities, Luís Filipe Tavares, and the Ambassador of Cape Verde to Portugal, Eurico Monteiro.
On his official Facebook page, the Cape Verdean Prime Minister said that the process on citizen mobility between member countries is the country's priority and "is well under way".
"There is a broad political consensus on the draft resolution presented by Cape Verde. We are making history," stressed the head of government.
The CPLP includes Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste.
Cape Verde assumed the pro tempore presidency of the CPLP in July 2018, at the Conference of Heads of State and Government, held in Santa Maria, on the island of Sal.
