Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Mister President, Excellency,
Mrs. Bettina Wulff,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased to welcome President Christian Wulff and his Wife, as well as their retinue, in this which is the first Visit to Portugal of a Head of State since my re-election as President of the Republic.

We hope that you will feel, in our Country, as welcome as both my Wife and I felt on the State Visit we carried out to Germany, in March 2009, which we remember most gratefully.

In President Wulff, Portugal receives the primary representative of a country that is our friend and ally, a partner with which it shares a secular relationship and a common future within the sphere of the European Union.

Portugal will never forget Germany’s decisive support in our path to Freedom and Democracy and in that which led to our adhesion to the European Economic Community.

The process of European integration, with which both of us are firmly committed, brought together even more our peoples and our countries. A nearness that is reflected in all the many fields of activity, with direct implications in the lives of our citizens.

Germany is one of the highest placed amongst our economic partners. It is our second largest customer, our second largest supplier and one of the most important foreign investors.

Many German companies chose Portugal to set up their facilities. The good results they are reaching, in spite of an internationally adverse context, are the clearest possible demonstration of the success of their stake.

Many are, likewise, the Portuguese companies that are investing these days in the German market, and entrepreneurs, scientists, architects, students and academicians are creating partnerships that reinforce the existing bonds and strengthen confidence in the future.

Our level of cooperation also owes much to the presence, in Germany, of a significant and particularly well integrated community with Portuguese origins, which disseminates our culture and our identity.

What we have been able to build allows us to be ambitious as to the future.

Fields such as that of renewable energies, biotechnology, creative industries and the economy of the sea are examples of areas with a high potential for the strengthening of our cooperation. Complementariness and convergence of interests between our entrepreneurs with respect to a presence in other regions, as is the case with Portuguese speaking countries in Africa and Latin America, equally offer opportunities where advantages surely exist.

Mister President,

On 3 October 1990, the world witnessed, with emotion and hope, German’s reunification, an undertaking the success of which was doubted by some, but that nowadays everybody recognizes as the prime symbol of the unity of our Continent and of the success of European integration.

Twenty years past, the European Union once again finds itself facing one of those moments that define the course of History.

The nature of the great challenges of our times and the changes that have been taking place in international power relations demand, more than ever, a European Union that is able to act cohesively, determinedly and with solidarity.

Let us be very clear: how we face present difficulties will determine what we will become in the future.

The introduction of the euro, as recalled by Helmut Kohl, was a decisive turning point in the History of Europe. The euro is, today, a pillar of the sustainability of European integration. For this reason it pertains to European leaders, to member States, the unavoidable responsibility to defend the Economic and Monetary Union and to guarantee that its governance is effective, credible and transparent.

The defence of the Economic and Monetary Union is inseparable from the rigour in the management of public accounts. But it belongs equally in the definition and execution of a common and joint strategic agenda, capable of relaunching economic growth, create employment, promote competitiveness and strengthen cohesion. It will thus guarantee that the European construction continues being the great project, bearer of confidence and hope for the future of the Europeans.

Mister President,

Portugal and Germany share objectives and interests in respect of multiple themes of the international agenda. An agenda that is characterized today by a high degree of volatility and uncertainty.

I am certain that the presence of our two countries in the United Nations Security Council will constitute an opportunity to enlarge and deepen the coordination of our positions and thus to assert the objectives consecrated in the Treaty of Lisbon, in the field of the external actions of the European Union.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with confidence in the future that I ask you all to join me in a toast to the health and happiness of President and Mrs. Christian Wulff, to the strengthening of the relations between Portugal and Germany and to the growing prosperity of our peoples and countries.