As a “kissing chain” initiative – aimed to show Europeans’ desire for a remain vote in the UK referendum – got underway in Berlin and Rome today, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, has been in Lisbon – if not sending kisses to Britain, at least stressing his heartfelt desire for an IN vote on Thursday.
Interrupting his visit for talks with prime minister António Costa and President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Tusk gave a press conference in English, stressing “the whole Western community will become weaker” in the event of a Brexit.
Tusk alluded to growing discontent throughout member states, saying: “Whatever (the referendum) result is going to be, we must take a long, hard look on the future of the Union.
“We would be foolish if we ignored such a warning signal as the UK referendum.
“There are more signals of dissatisfaction with the Union, coming from all of Europe, not only from the UK,” he added, ending his “Stay With Us” appeal with a “muito obrigado” to prime minister Costa who was standing beside him.
Why Tusk was visiting Portugal however remains unexplained.
His first meeting with prime minister Costa began around 11am, while his meeting with President Marcelo was scheduled for 3pm.
According to news sources, Tusk was due to fly out of Portugal straight after his afternoon meeting.
Earlier this morning, SIC TV reported on the ‘kisses’ campaign, launched by civic movement AVAAZ in Germany and Italy, featuring Europeans of all ages and nationalities “sending kisses and love” to Britain as a reason for remaining within the EU.
