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

Honourable President of the Russian Federation
Honourable Authorities
Honourable Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I welcome Your Excellency, Mister President, in this your visit to Portugal, which will continue tomorrow, in Mafra, with the Summit Meeting between the European Union and Russia.

Separated by the distance imposed by geography and limiting the borders of a shared continent, our countries have maintained contacts during centuries, especially since the establishment of diplomatic relations, in 1779. The History of these relations does not reveal any serious conflicts or grave disagreements.

It rather relates episodes to which the time elapsed brings certain fascination, such as the relevant role Russia played in the mediation between Portugal and China regarding the Portuguese diocese in Beijing, or yet the story of our first Consul in St. Petersburg, José Pedro Celestino Velho, whom the Russians called Old Ossip and who Tsar Paul II awarded the title of Baron; enterprising and inquisitive, he was a true example of what the Portuguese are better at.

To Old Ossip, let us call him that, and to his family, is due the first contact between Tsar Alexander I with Alexander Puschkin, who would eventually include Camões in those to whom he dedicates his poem “To my friend the poet”, and to whom we owe the translation into Russian of the literary work “Recordações “(“Mementos”), by Tomás António de Gonzaga.

This, aside from that great medical man and illuminist Ribeiro Sanches, physician to Catherine II, who the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences distinguished as an honourable member.


Mister President,

Having overcome the pressures brought us by the Cold War, we have been able to renew, with the best of our traditions, the path of understanding and cooperation.

I had the honour, in 1994, as Prime Minister, to sign, in Moscow, the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between Russia and Portugal, which has been the basis for the consolidation of our recent relationship. I recall with pleasure that which was the first official visit of a Portuguese Prime Minister to Russia and also the first official visit of a Head of Government of the European Union after the signature, in Corfu, of an Agreement for Cooperation and Partnership between Russia and the European Union.

Allow me also to recall Your Excellency’s visit to Portugal, in 2004, another token in the strengthening of a relationship that today embraces many differing domains.

The Russian market has a growing interest for Portuguese exporting businesses, a reality which is well reflected by the large number of entrepreneurs present here tonight. Some of them took part in the Entrepreneurial Mission which is just back from Moscow. I hope this initiative is followed by others that can contribute towards mustering our trading relationship, as well as to the establishment of associations between our entrepreneurs and to the flow of investment between both our countries.

The recent signature of an Agreement for the Tourism sector will, I am certain, allow our tourist operators to exploit another area of great potential. A potential which we must take advantage of, and which can be spread over various other domains such as technical and scientific cooperation.

But a good relationship between States demands knowledge of their realities, culture and History. The excellent exhibition of the Collection of the Hermitage Museum which we have just opened, resulting from cooperation between cultural institutions of both countries, is a fluent example of what can and must be done in that direction.

Portugal houses today an important Russian community, generally well integrated and which contributes, with its efforts and intelligence, to the progress of our country and to the strengthening of our relations. Thanks to this community and to the fact that its language is also spoken by other communities, Russian is today one of the best known foreign languages in our country. On the other hand, I wish to highlight and give thanks to Russian Universities and academic institutions for having welcomed and promoted the teaching of the Portuguese language.

Mister President,

Your Excellency represents a Nation which has long been a reference in international relations and very often contributed to determine the path of History.

A Nation whose greatness is not just determined by its geographical immensity, by the richness of its resources, by military might, by economic dynamism, or by its historical heritage, but also by its numerous figures and works, which are an integral part of the world’s cultural heritage.

This great Nation, Russia, is a neighbour and fundamental partner of the European Union, to which Portugal is presiding for the third time in the current semester. What happens in Russia will always affect us very closely, and the same is true of Russia, in relation to what happens in the European Union.

The European Union shares with Russia the wish for a world of peace, stability and economic and social development. Your Excellency, Mr. President, has often pointed out the relevance that, such as does the European Union, Russia gives to the values on which democracy and market economy are based.

When this is the sole reality, dialogue answers our best interests. Especially with the multiple challenges with which the world of today faces us, and which neither of us can conquer by himself. However, for dialogue to happen and produce results it is crucial that it has solid bases that only trust and mutual respect allow being construed, which necessarily implies a joint effort.

Act jointly in issues and areas where convergence exists. When there is a divergence find solution through the strengthening of trust and through dialogue. This must be the motto for the relations between strategic partners, between neighbouring and complementary areas, between responsible international performers.

I sincerely hope that the Mafra Summit contributes towards the consolidation of the relations between the European Union and Russia, cementing cooperation where it already exists, identifying new areas where this could become factual, and opening up the search for solutions where difficulties still prevail.

Mister President,

Portugal effectively wants to develop its bilateral relations with Russia and to promote the consolidation of a relation of trust, which will allow the embodiment of a dynamic partnership looking to the future, between the European Union and Russia. I am certain that your visit will render an important contribution in that direction.

I ask you all to join me in a toast to the health of President Vladimir Putin, to the prosperity of the friendly people of Russia and to the strengthening of the relations between our two countries and between the European Union and Russia.