Mister President, Excellency
Madam Alma Adamkiene
Honourable Authorities
Prestigious Guests,

I have great pleasure in welcoming Your Excellency and Your Wife on this first State Visit of a President of Lithuania to my country. A visit which is demonstrative of the extraordinary developments that marked the History of Europe and of the World in recent years.

Portugal receives today the Highest Representative of Lithuania, a country that, with ourselves, limits the external borders of the European Union and which shares with us, in NATO, values which link both sides of the Atlantic.

At a time when so many stress the difficulties and the challenges that currently face us, it is as well that we are able to recognize the meaning of this reality, impossible to foresee a few years ago, and the route that led to it. Lithuania is in effect the example that the future is not built with resignation and fear, but with trust in our capabilities and convictions.

In 1923, Portugal recognized the independence of the young Republic of Lithuania. In the difficult years that followed we never accepted the change in that statute. It is thus not surprising that we have been, from the first moment, supporters of the integration of Lithuania in the European Union and in NATO, convinced that Europe would never be complete without Lithuania and the remaining Baltic States.

Excellency,

There are many examples that describe the excellence of the political relationship between Portugal and Lithuania, from the mutual support in the matter of candidatures to international organizations and offices, to the opening of resident Embassies in the respective capitals, and, more recently, to the Portuguese contribution to the aerial policing of the Baltic States.

But it is fundamental that the excellence of our relationship spreads to the economic, entrepreneurial and cultural fields where, in spite of the progress which has already been reached, we are still very far from the potential that derives from the opportunities created by our belonging in the European common area. Your Excellency’s visit and the deputation that accompanies you is a clear sign of the wish to deepen the relations between our two countries.

Excellency,

Portugal and Lithuania are active partners in the construction of the European Project. If integration has brought us great benefits, it is equally a fact that it benefited with our adhesion, specifically through the knowledge we have of a vast number of countries and regions of the globe.

I wish, moreover, on this occasion, to pay tribute to Your Excellency’s assertive and determining actions in the resolution of crises and conflicts, specifically in the Ukraine and in Moldavia.

Portugal will assume, already on 1 July next, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Apart from the endeavour required in the resolution of the institutional deadlock, in the follow up of the Lisbon Agenda, in the consolidation of the Internal Market and of an European Social Policy that serves the interests of the European peoples, in the development of an energy and environment policy that ensures the survival of our ecosystem, and in an European maritime policy, the Portuguese Presidency will also try to give a new impetus toward the external relationship of the European Union.

We believe that stability and security are fundamental for the future of the European Project and for this to be achieved the strengthening of the relations with the regions and countries neighbouring the European Union is essential. A strengthening included in the European Neighbouring Policy, to the East, but also to the South, through the Mediterranean and Africa. The issues which affect these regions have strategic implications for the European Union. To ignore them could mean the payment of a very high price by all Europeans.

For this reason we give special relevance to the II EU-Africa Summit, a neighbouring continent sharing with Portugal a relation of proximity which, with its bases in History, we want to Project into the future. It is necessary that Europe stops talking of Africa and talks more to Africa.

High level summits are tools with great relevance in the external assertion of the Union. In a particularly international sensitive moment, and apart from the African Summit, the Portuguese Presidency will organize meetings with India, China, Russia, the Ukraine and also, for the first time, with Brazil, evidencing the importance of this country, with which Portugal shares a common language and a common History.

The task of the Portuguese Presidency is thus complex and demanding. As in previous occasions, we will do all in our power so that the European Union ends 2007 better prepared to face the challenges of our time and better equipped to take advantage of the opportunities offered it. Presidencies, naturally, are not solitary exercises, and their success thus depends much upon the joint efforts of all the Member States.
I am convinced, Mister President, that Portugal can count on the assertive contribution and support of Lithuania.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I ask you all to join me in a toast to the health of President and Mrs. Valdas Adamkus, to the friendly People of Lithuania, and to the prosperous relations between both our countries.