The President of the Republic receives on Friday, in the Palace of Belém, the visit of the Latvian Head of State, ValdisZatlers, who will decorate him with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Recognition, in a gesture of appreciation from Latvia to the Portuguese President who, in the 80s and whilst Prime Minister, defended the independence of the Baltic States.
In 1987, and in the face of a concrete situation, Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva explicitly reasserted Portugal’s position in this issue, not recognizing the policy of annexation of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union and defending the independence of those states – Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
Latvia would recover its independence in 1991 and now the Baltic State decided to pay a tribute to President Cavaco Silva, awarding him the Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Recognition.
Already in September 2008, Latvia had decided to decorate President Cavaco Silva for the same reason, and President of the Republic ToomasHendrikIlve, awarded the Grand Collar of the Order of the Cross of the Land of Maryanne at a ceremony held in the Latvian Permanent Mission with the United States, in New York.
The Latvian President, ValdisZatlers, who is in Lisbon to attend the Summit of the Heads of State and of Government of the Atlantic Alliance, will hold this visit to the Palace of Belém together with his Wife, Mrs. LilitaZatlere.
The meeting between the two Presidents, followed by the decoration ceremony, will take place at 15:15 hours on Friday, 19 November.
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