Mister President and Dear Friend,

On the occasion of the celebrations of the National Day of East Timor, I am particularly pleased to address Your Excellency, on behalf of the People of Portugal and in my own personal name, our warmest congratulations, as well as our best wishes for the progress and prosperity of our brethren the People of East Timor.

Your Excellency’s recent visit to Portugal permitted, once more, to establish the links of great friendship and cooperation that unite Portugal and East Timor, as well as the wishes shared by both our People to deepen their relationship, enlarging it into other fields. On this occasion I want to reiterate to Your Excellency my personal endeavour towards achieving such an objective, as well as Portugal’s continued support towards the efforts for the consolidation of peace and for the promotion of the socio-economic development of East Timor:

In this very special moment for East Timor and for all the friends of East Timor, in which I include myself, I beg you to accept, Mister President, my highest consideration and personal esteem.

Aníbal Cavaco Silva