“It’s a difficult moment, a moment when we hear people don’t believe anymore in science, that scientists aren’t right and that we don’t believe in scientific facts.
That frightens me. It frightens me when in 2016 the word of the year was post-truth.
I’m frightened for my kids. I’m here for my kids and the future because I believe that only with science can we advance.
I wanted to give you some advice from a politician: don’t be scared to shout for science; don’t be scared to say science can create wealth and jobs.
Because I can feel that fear sometimes.
Don’t be afraid to say you are an interest group and a group that fights for what it wants and what it deserves.
In my two years and a half in Brussels, I’ve seen at the door of my cabinet many people: I’ve seen farmers, work unions, industry, politicians… but I’ve never seen researchers.
Demonstrate, speak loudly, because you deserve to. Don’t forget we make the best science in Europe and we shouldn’t be ashamed to say we are the best.
Before he died, [former Israeli president and prime minister] Shimon Peres said that democracy is ,“Not just the right to be equal but also the equal right to be different.”
Without science there’s no peace, there’s no democracy, without science there’s no future.”
Moedas’ address to marchers, translated from Portuguese by Ivo Alho, was made in Lisbon on Saturday
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