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

It is my very great pleasure to offer the warmest of welcomes to President Heinz Fischer, Madame Margit Fischer and their delegation on their official visit to Portugal.

My wife and I have very vivid and pleasant memories of our own visit to Austria in July 2009. We will never forget the countless gestures of friendship, nor the warm way in which we were received.

Today, we feel particularly honoured and delighted to welcome the President of Austria in person, as the highest authority of a country that is a friend of Portugal, a European partner, and with which we share a rich and diversified relationship whose roots date back many centuries.

In fact, the relationship can be traced back to the end of the Middle Ages and the marriage of Frederick III to Eleanor of Portugal. Their union produced the future Emperor Maximilian I, and their marriage also marked the start of a vast system of dynastic alliances that influenced the development of our countries and our continent.

One of Portugal’s most imposing monuments, the Convent of Mafra, which Your Excellency and Madame Fischer will have the chance to visit, bears eloquent witness to that long-standing link. History tells us how that magnificent architectural creation was built to keep a promise made by King João V of Portugal to the Virgin Mary. He swore to dedicate it to the Virgin when his wife, Queen Maria Anna of Austria, gave him the heir so longed for by the nation.

In the 20th century, during the Second World War, Portugal became a country of asylum for thousands of Austrian citizens, and after 1945, this country also became a second home for many Austrian children who were taken into Portuguese families. Many of those refugees and children returned to Austria, and I had the great pleasure of meeting some of them in Vienna during my visit to Austria.

For its part, Portugal will never forget Austria’s support in our quest for freedom and democracy. Thanks to that crucial backing, today we are partners and allies within the European family.

Nor do we forget present-day words and signs of support, at a time when the Portuguese are being asked to accept tough sacrifices to ensure a better future and the success of the European project.

Mr President,

Although history provides numerous examples of cooperation, it is equally true that, today, Portugal and Austria are increasingly in accord when it comes to the many challenges facing the European Union and the modern world.

We both agree that the current economic and financial crisis is a test of Europe’s cohesion, unity and solidarity. As such, we agree that the only truly effective response to such a systemic crisis has to be European, collective, and mutually supportive.

The progress achieved in strengthening the European Union’s economic governance, as well as current programmes to consolidate budgets and implement structural reforms here in Portugal, are key steps if we are to overcome the crisis. But just as important and urgent is the fact that we have to forge ahead with a common, mutually supportive agenda, based on the different realities of each Member State; we have to re-launch the economy; we have to create jobs; and we have to strengthen the competitiveness and cohesion of Europe as a whole.

Portugal is committed to playing its part scrupulously and seriously. We have always lived up to our word, and this time it will be no different.

Mr President,

The frequency of high-level political contacts between Portugal and Austria, of which your current visit is an example, demonstrates fully our bilateral relationship and our firm determination to strengthen cooperation in as many sectors as possible.

In recent years, despite the negative effects of the international situation, our economic relationship has become stronger. Nevertheless, it still falls far short of its potential.

I feel sure that this visit will help give the Austrian business community a better insight into Portuguese companies and the opportunities to be found in Portugal, and will help it develop partnerships between businesses from both countries aimed at Portuguese-speaking markets.

Mr President,

This visit is a sign of our joint commitment to an ever-closer relationship between Portugal and Austria – a partnership based on ties of friendship and solidarity built up over centuries, but which looks towards the future.

It is in that spirit that I invite you all to join me in a toast to the health and happiness of President Heinz Fischer and Madame Margit Fischer; to a strengthened partnership between Portugal and Austria; to the success of the European project; and to the growing prosperity of our peoples.