"I believe that parliaments should favor freedom and, obviously, that democratic parliaments should favor human rights; the balance between these two rights is a balance that requires common sense, and I trust that common sense prevails in the Portuguese parliament", Sebastião Bugalho told the Lusa agency, on the sidelines of a lunch with producers from Douro, mayors and activists.

Questioned about the position of the president of the Assembly of the Republic of leaving a statement by the leader of Chega with xenophobic contours without repair, an issue that is still on the agenda three days later, the candidate of the AD, a coalition that brings together PSD, CDS-PP and PPM, stated that "issues involving freedoms and rights are never controversial, they are fundamental".

On Friday, the president of the parliament defended that it is not up to him to censor the positions or opinions of deputies, referring to the Public Ministry for any possible criminal liability of the parliamentary speech.

José Pedro Aguiar-Branco rejected that he had made a mistake by allowing the leader of Chega, André Ventura, to continue his speech, after saying that "the Turks are not exactly known for being the hardest working people in the world".

"Our candidacy has always been on the side and will continue to be always on the side of human rights and against violence as a language in politics", stressed Sebastião Bugalho.

And he gave an example: - "We were the only ones so far who have distanced ourselves from anti-Semitic statements in these European elections, we were the only ones who, for example, had a word of solidarity when a candidate for the German European parliament was attacked while pasting a poster, (...) and, for example, when the Slovak prime minister was shot, we showed our solidarity".

"Whenever the choice is between violence and peace, we are on the side of peace. We are on the side of peace, human rights and minorities, that is very clear, that is our position", he said.

During this visit to Douro, Sebastião Bugalho listened to the problems of the region and the wine sector and told Lusa that, at this moment, the "Portuguese Government is obviously focused on finding solutions to solve the problems, namely the excess stock that occurs here in Douro".

In this region, the last year was marked by some social unrest because, invoking difficulties in selling wine, large companies did not buy or bought less grapes from the producers who, in turn, complained about delivering the grapes "without a price" or at "very low prices", a problem that is feared to intensify in the next harvest.

"Their business has to be sustainable, from an environmental point of view for the region, we are working towards that, we are also working for more inspection, to make sure that the wines that are not from this region and that enter are duly inspected", also said the candidate for the AD.

This is not, he stressed, "an easy problem, but this candidacy is not a simplistic or easy-going candidacy, it is a candidacy that is not afraid of problems and that will find solutions together with the Government and the communities".

However, he stressed that he prefers to "look more at the opportunity than at the problem" and said that he will be a voice in Europe that will draw attention to Douro as a World Heritage Site and as the oldest demarcated and regulated region in the world.

The candidate also said that the candidacy is traveling the country from North to South to listen to the concerns of the Portuguese. "Because that's the only way we can hear their voice in Europe", he said.

Read Also: Bugalho criticizes calling Marcelo "traitor" just to "make noise" (Portuguese version)