References to the upcoming Annual Report on Homeland Security (RASI) and the issue of forest fires were made by Eduardo Cabrita at the PS national headquarters in Lisbon.

In a long initial speech, in which he reviewed virtually all his areas of government competence, Eduardo Cabrita began by citing international indicators that point to Portugal as the third safest country, when in 2014 it ranked 18th.

"The preliminary data from the RASI of 2019 - a document that will be presented to the Assembly of the Republic by the end of March and will then have the final data fixed - show that the path of reducing serious and violent crime continued last year. We have registered a sustained path (which did not only start in 2016) of significantly reducing overall crime and serious and violent crime," he said.

At this point, the Minister of Home Affairs attributed the results to the existence of a "strategy for the presence and proximity of security forces" and, on the other hand, "a relationship of trust" between the general population and the security forces.

"The security forces in Portugal have such a dimension that they can accompany children in the Safe School, know where the isolated elderly are, have interventions in the prevention and criminal repression and present a guarantee of preventive capacity regarding significant risks".

On the issue of fires, before the socialist militants, Eduardo Cabrita noted that the issue of civil protection, which marked the beginning of his duties at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (October 2017), was not practically a topic of discussion in parliament this morning, during the debate on the State Budget 2020 committee.

"The number of ignitions in 2019 was the second lowest of the century and last year's burnt area was 71 percent below the average of the previous ten years," he said, highlighting among the recent changes made the increasing professionalisation of fire brigade teams and the immediate responsiveness of the means.

But the member of the Socialist Government then took the opportunity to leave a series of warnings about term fire risks.

"Today there is no talk of fires, but it was not luck, nor was St. Peter. As with the issue of safety, it was no coincidence that Portugal moved from 18th to third best country. In 2018, Portugal had the highest temperatures since there are records," he said, citing specifically the first week of August of that year, but also the first half of September 2019.

In this context, the Minister of Internal Affairs then issued an appeal: "It is necessary that the issue [of forest fires] does not leave the agenda."

"There is nothing more dangerous in this area than the idea that it is only in Australia or California. It is an effective risk and we cannot slow down when this topic goes off the agenda" he said.

In the opening speech of this conference, the Deputy Secretary-General of the PS, José Luís Carneiro, gave a critical comment on the period from 2011 to 2015 in relation to the government policy for the public administration, arguing that "the cuts in terms resources and career freezing have led to a demotivation, with some of the best staff leaving."

"The efforts being made since 2016 to regain public administration take time to produce results," he warned in an address in which he praised the minister of home affairs for the "systematic willingness to dialogue" with law enforcement officials.

"This 2020 State Budget takes care of the financing of social functions, but also values ??the functions of sovereignty, such as those associated with the Ministry of Internal Affairs," said José Luís Carneiro.