"The CPLP [Community of Portuguese Language Countries] is a space for integration and discussion and we can, at the appropriate time, discuss these positions, without interfering in the internal affairs of each country," José Maria Neves told the Lusa agency, on the sidelines of a meeting with Cape Verdean students from the city of Maio, which is taking place this weekend in São João da Madeira, in the district of Aveiro. Asked about his position, as president of one of the nine member states of the CPLP, on the military agreement recently signed between Russia and São Tomé and Príncipe, the President of Cape Verde said that "the sovereign decisions of countries must be respected". "The CPLP is a plural space with multiple sovereignties and perhaps that is the richness of this space. Each sovereignty is integrated into its own geopolitical space with its own challenges, so countries sovereignly make decisions that may not meet the positions of others [countries], but we must respect the sovereign decisions of countries," he defended. The Cape Verdean head of state said that "Cape Verde has had agreements with Russia for many years, but in relation to the current geopolitical situation, it has a very clear position". "Cape Verde respects the territorial integrity of countries, respects the sovereignty of different states and considers that internationally recognized borders are inviolable. We defend International Law and the Charter of the United Nations, therefore we strongly condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine," he said. On Tuesday, the parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs approved, with the votes against the PS and the abstention of the Livre, the hearing of the head of diplomacy, Paulo Rangel, on the role of Portugal in the Lusophone community, requested by the Liberal Initiative. The IL's request follows a military agreement recently signed between Russia and São Tomé and Príncipe. On the same day, Paulo Rangel assured that "no episode, whatever it may be", could affect relations between Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe. "For us, São Tomé and Príncipe is a fundamental partner and, therefore, [cooperation] will not suffer from any episode, whatever it may be," said Rangel, in Madrid, in response to questions from journalists about statements he recently made about the military cooperation agreement between São Tomé and Moscow. Paulo Rangel considered that the statements he made were decontextualized and considered that "part of the noise that is made has no reason to be". The minister argued that he expressed "some concern" about the agreement between São Tomé and Príncipe and Russia, because it was "a little unexpected", after having said "seven or eight times" that "evidently São Tomé is a sovereign state". The previous week, the executive secretary of the CPLP stated that "there is no drama" on the matter, while the Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, considered it important to "safeguard the unity of the CPLP", recalling that "when the invasion by the Russian Federation of Ukraine began [in 2022] there were votes at the United Nations and in some of the votes the CPLP was divided, and it was very divided". The news of the agreement with São Tomé and Príncipe came alongside a visit by the Guinean President, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, to Russia, during which the Guinean head of state assured his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that he could count on Guinea-Bissau "as a permanent ally". Embaló said he had "more than 100 military officers training in Russia", and also requested training for the Guinean special forces. Read Also: PS requests urgent hearing of Rangel on changes to CPLP visas (Portuguese version)