The European Commission and the European Council on Saturday defended the decision to participate in the G20 summit in Saudi Arabia against the wishes of the European Parliament.

Members of the European Parliament last month called on the European Union to downgrade its attendance at the summit in Riyadh over ongoing human rights violations in the country.

The bill was one of the strongest political messages the institution had ever issued on Saudi Arabia and came on the two-year anniversary of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The wide-ranging resolution condemned Saudi human rights abuses and urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel not to attend the virtual summit.

Read more: European Parliament urges EU to snub Saudi G20 Summit

However, von der Leyen and Michel ignored the calls, and are at the virtual summit, which began on Saturday.

MEPs received a letter from von der Leyen and Michel on Saturday, which defended the decision.

The leaders said the summit is “a key forum to discuss and coordinate with the largest world economies the major global challenges we face. Such global coordination is all the more important as the world faces one its deepest crisis with the COVID-19 pandemic.”

EU ‘could not be absent’

They said the EU could not be absent from the summit, which will address global cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines, preparedness against future pandemics, climate change, sustainable recovery, as well as trade and taxation issues.

Read more: Divisive G20 host Saudi Arabia gears up for summit

“Participation at a G20 meeting does not mean endorsement of the policies of the Chair,” they wrote.

“This being said, the promotion and protection of human rights are at the core of the EU’s engagement with Saudi Arabia.

“The situation of women’s rights, individual activists, human rights defenders, or the need for accountability for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, feature prominently in our discussions with the relevant Saudi institutions.

“It is our intention to further intensify our dialogue on all human rights topics including civil and political rights, with the aim of mirroring progress Saudi Arabia has achieved in recent years in the socio-economic domain. We will continue to pay utmost attention to this question in the run-up to the G20 Summit and beyond, in coordination with the EU Special Representative for Human Rights and relevant stakeholders.”

Separately, the Commission defended its participation in comments to DW, saying it was too important not to attend.

Peter Stano, lead spokesperson for the external affairs of the EU, told DW: “We have been raising our concerns and we discussed further how to improve the human rights situation — the protection of human rights in the kingdom — and we will continue to pay upmost attention to this question.”

MEPs responding to public concerns

A foreign policy expert in the Parliament told DW that the letter showed the gulf between the institutions of the EU, and that the parliament had once again shown itself to be more representative of the public’s views.

They said the virtual nature of the conference gave the Commission and the Council a sort of “alibi” to hide behind.

MEP Marc Tarabella, Vice-Chair of the Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula, told DW that the EU was turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia.

“The European Commission and the Council are clearly turning a blind eye — not only to the horrendous record of human rights violations in Saudi Arabia and to the European Parliament’s clear request for a participation downgrade — but also to all the NGOs, journalists like Jamal Khashoggi, human rights defenders like Loujain al-Hathloul and the women’s activists that risk their lives every day.”

“The EU has lost a big opportunity to be coherent with its values.”

Tarabella said the EU’s “silent diplomacy” was failing to reign in human rights abuses in the country and called for concrete measures against the Saudi regime.

“War crimes against civilians in Yemen, lack of accountability for the state-sponsored murder of Jamal Khashoggi, torture and rape against dissidents, including human rights defenders and women rights activists, go unabated, with no sanctions from the EU of any sort.”

“It is high time to take a clear, public stance consistent with the EU values and interests and impose real costs on the Saudi regime for its reckless, criminal behavior.”

Bulgaria is set to receive over EUR half a billion in EU funds to cover the initial expenses related to the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

Bulgaria will receive this amount as soon as the report under this new instrument is approved by the European Parliament at second reading, Bulgaria’s MEP Andrey Novakov said for BNR. “This instrument grants financing retrospectively for ongoing projects aimed to cope with the Covid-19 crisis”. MEP Novakov added.

President Armen Sarkissian met with Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, the Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia.

They talked about the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict and the resulting situation in Armenia and Artsakh.

South Africans looking for an offshore base, visa-free access to Europe and the possibility of dual-citizenship, are increasingly investing in property in Portugal, says migration, wealth and forex specialists, Sable International.

The Golden Visa Programme developed by the Portuguese government, which offers a financially accessible and efficient process, whereby non-EU citizens can obtain Portuguese residence permits and citizenship via investment in the country, remains very popular and in fact during the 2020 Covid crisis has shown no sign of tapering.

By mid-2020, over 8,736 residence permits had been issued since the start of the programme, equating to 14,936 residence permits if the family members of the main applicant were included.

With the visa, applicants and their families can live and work in Portugal as well as travel visa-free throughout the European Schengen Area. “A key benefit of the programme is that applicants don’t need to immigrate to Portugal to hold the Golden Visa.

They only need to spend (on average) seven days a year in Portugal to meet the residency requirements of the programme,” said Andrew Rissik director at Sable International.

“It means you can make a sound offshore investment and secure your family’s future without the hassle of relocating to a completely new country.”

The Golden Visa not only allows the holder to live and work in Portugal, but also affords them the right to visa-free travel throughout the European Schengen Area.

This has been especially attractive to executives wishing to work within the European Union (EU). Through the Portuguese residency programme, South Africans can qualify for permanent residence after five years. Portuguese citizenship (an EU passport) gives you the right to live and work in the EU, which currently includes the United Kingdom.

Rissik said that South Africans are mostly attracted to the prospect of dual residency, visa-free travel in Europe, the option to invest a relatively affordable overseas property, and the great tax benefits.

Getting the Golden ticket

To qualify for the programme, applicants need to make an investment in the Portuguese economy. “There are a few routes available to investors – the most popular are the €350,000 private equity capital investment and the purchasing of property with a value of €500,000 or €350,000,” said Rissik.

“Once you have invested, you will be granted a residency permit, which allows you to enter and/or live in Portugal and travel freely within most EU countries. Your Golden Visa is valid for an initial period of two years and is renewed for a further two years every two years.”

To become eligible for permanent residency or citizenship, applicants need to hold their investment alongside their visa for a full five-year period. “Applicants will have to spend time in Portugal over the course of the visa period; but it isn’t extensive ranging from one to two weeks a year,” said Rissik.

As a resident holder, you are required to spend a minimum of 35 days in Portugal over this five-year period.

Why Portugal

Rissik said that most South Africans are attracted by the secure lifestyle. It was voted as the third safest country in the world in the Global Peace Index 2019.

“The tax benefits are also compelling – Portugal has one of the most favourable tax regimes in the EU for foreigners looking to become tax resident. Individuals who are not tax residents only pay tax at source on income derived in Portugal.

“However if one becomes tax resident and spends more than 183 days a year in the country, you are exempt from almost all foreign source income tax under the so-called NHR tax scheme. There’s also no inheritance, gift or wealth tax,” said Rissik.

Covid-19 aside, Portugal has a robust economy, he said. Since the global financial crisis, Portugal’s economy has been transformed from 2008 –2020 to one of the fastest growing in Europe. Portugal has had above-average GDP growth. It has a leading tech hub and a strong manufacturing sector.

In real estate, Portugal was ranked the ‘Hottest’ property market in Europe (Bloomberg 2019), with high affordability, boasting one of the lowest House Price-to-Income ratios in Europe. Forbes’ named Portugal the Most Investible Country of 2020 and ‘Knight Frank’ forecast best price growth in Portugal for 2020-2021 post Covid-19.

Buyer beware

“We are seeing a strong uptake for Portugal investments even through Covid, but the high demand also means there are a lot of unscrupulous operators out there selling properties that are bad investments or that do not actually qualify for the Golden Visa,” said Rissik.

“We have been on the ground in Portugal doing property and visas since 2012, and we have the highest number of South Africans invested there.

“You also need to look at all the options, is this this just a Plan B, or do you plan to relocate and start a business or work there or do you want to retire in Portugal – you might find that a Retirement Visa is better for your purposes than applying for a Golden Visa.”