Energy sovereignty brings Patriots to Porto and unites Ventura with Bardella

Tuesday, 21 April 2026RSS
Energy sovereignty brings Patriots to Porto and unites Ventura with Bardella

The topic of energy sovereignty will bring the Patriots for Europe group to a hotel in Porto, featuring André Ventura and Jordan Bardella. The event aims to demonstrate that security and immigration are not the only priorities for radical right-wing parties. The three-day 'Patriots Study Days' will focus on energy dependence, offshore wind farms, solar energy impacts on agriculture, and the role of nuclear power, culminating in the 'Porto Declaration'.

Context & Explainers

Sustainability (sustentabilidade) means meeting present needs without reducing the ability of future generations to meet theirs, covering environmental, economic and social dimensions. For residents it affects local planning, jobs and services—look for municipal or company targets, timelines and measurable actions when assessing how sustainable a place or employer is.

Chega

Chega ("Enough") is a Portuguese far-right populist party founded in 2019 by André Ventura. It positions itself as an anti-establishment movement against what it calls a "rotten and corrupt system" of PS-PSD dominance. The party surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest force with 60 seats. ​ Chega's core platform emphasizes strict immigration control—ending automatic CPLP residency, deporting non-independent immigrants, implementing job-market quotas, and requiring five-year social security contributions before benefit access. It advocates radical constitutional reform, including reducing parliament to 100 members, abolishing the prime minister position for a presidential system, and dismantling public healthcare. Law-and-order policies include life imprisonment and chemical castration proposals.

The party is defined by inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric, with Ventura convicted multiple times for discrimination. Chega maintains international alignments with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen, Santiago Abascal, and Matteo Salvini. Mainstream Portuguese parties, including Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's government, have imposed a cordon sanitaire, refusing coalition with Chega despite its parliamentary strength.

View full article on dn.pt

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