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

Reverend Excellency, Apostolic Nuncio
Ambassadors,
Heads of Mission,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I begin by thanking you for your presence here and by wishing all of you, your Families and Countries, a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

I also want to express my gratitude for the kind words of His Excellency The Most Reverend Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See, as Doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, and to let him know, once more, that Portugal enthusiastically awaits the Official Visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, next May.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This past year, in spite of some recent positive signs, was much marked by the effects of the international financial and economic crisis, specifically in the field of employment.

The crisis highlighted the dangers of lack of transparency, which enables the feeding of expectations which are not corresponded by reality and which allows the hiding of ethically condemnable behaviours.

I recognize the efforts carried out, namely within the European Union and the G-20, in adopting rules aiming at ensuring better regulation and supervision of markets, and the widening of international financial cooperation.

We now need that the expected recovery be consolidated and managed on a sustainable basis. The way we overcome the crisis will be determining for not going back to a situation similar to the one we have been through, but with much higher costs.

Therefore, it is important that the first signs of growth do not let us forget the need to provide continuity to the reform of institutions and proceedings.

On the other hand the recourse to protectionist measures or the choice of policies exclusively pointing towards an immediate supposedly national interest must be avoided. They feed each other and only contribute to the worsening of the problems, compromising growth and sowing scenarios of confrontation.

On the contrary, we need to strengthen our tools of coordination and cooperation.

It is time to enshrine in binding international Agreements, matters which, until now, largely depended upon the good will of States. This is the best way to avoid the errors committed in the past and to increase the confidence of our citizens and economic agents.

This principle is applicable to economic and financial issues, but equally in relation to other great challenges we are facing. That is the case of climate change.

I share the sense of frustration of many others as to the modesty of the results reached in the Copenhagen Summit.

Uncertainty in this area, besides the queries it raises as to the future of our Planet, equally compromises the confidence required by investment decisions, in favour of more sustainable development projects.

Stronger determination is required to make sure that the Mexico City Summit, at the end of the current year, becomes a reference and a legacy of which we may be proud before the coming generations.

We live a time of growing global challenges and an ever greater degree of interdependence between States. We are witnessing the assertion of a global citizenship, encompassing concerns which we all recognize may only be faced collectively.

This reality coincides with the emergence in the world stage of players whose weight calls into question the structures and the format of current international decision making procedures.

We need international institutions which reflect these new paradigms, whose decisions may merit the agreement of our countries and whose legitimacy is recognized by all.

It is thus urgent to complete the reform of the United Nations.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Portugal’s identity has been framed by an almost millenary History of contacts with other peoples and cultures. Contacts which defined a posture in international relations that values tolerance, respect and the search for consensus amongst Nations, all of which are equal in their dignity.

We believe that this is the attitude most consistent with the multipolar reality of the world we live in and with the planetary scope of the issues we face.

We also believe that it is not possible to guarantee peace, security and stability whilst ignoring social issues. We thus want a world committed to the Millennium Development Goals, with policies supporting economic and social development, as well as the eradication of hunger, poverty, sickness and illiteracy.

It is nowadays clearer than ever that the costs of threats ignore geographical and political borders. We thus require a world capable of giving such threats a coordinated answer.

Fighting the causes of climate change, but also its effects, through the provision of support and assistance to those countries where they are and will be mostly felt.

Answering, equally, the outbreaks of major epidemics to which contribute the ease and swiftness of movement which characterize our time.

Preventing the occurrence of new economic and financial crises, but also of those related to energy and food scarcity. It is urgent to draw the attention of those who may have forgotten it to the brutal increases in costs related to energy and food resources with which we were faced only recently.

We know that peace, security and stability demand combined efforts in the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism as well as in the area of disarmament and in the fight against arms trafficking.

It is exactly because we believe that security and stability are determining factors for development that Portugal took part, in the last decade alone, in more than forty peace, stabilization or humanitarian aid missions in the five continents.

Implicit to all I said is human dignity and the respect for the rights and freedoms which define it, as enshrined in the United Nations relevant documents.

These are the convictions and this is the spirit of our candidacy to a non permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council, for the two year period 2011-2012. We are not running against anyone but in favour of a stronger United Nations.

The decision regarding this candidacy, which falls upon your countries, will take place this year. We look forward to it with the confidence and the ambition of a country that wishes to continue contributing, in a committed way, to the building of the better world which we all aim for.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the conditions are now set for the European Union to focus its attention in providing answers to the concerns of its citizens.

Portugal is determined to contribute to the good functioning of the new structures deriving from the Treaty of Lisbon, specifically the new European External Action Service. We will do so in line with our traditional stance in favour of a European Union open to the world.

A European Union attentive to its relations with its more immediate neighbourhood, to the East and in the southern Mediterranean, but which also knows how to let its voice be heard, and is ready to act when its interests are at stake. A European Union which knows how to preserve the capital of hope that its project of integration represents for so many peoples and countries.

Last year we started a commemorative cycle that will continue in 2010 and 2011, celebrating the 500 years of the Portuguese presence in Asia and relevant anniversaries of the establishment of diplomatic relations with some of the region’s countries. This is the case with China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. We wish that the events associated with these celebrations be the signal of our renewed commitment towards forward looking relations with the Asian and Pacific countries.

The CPLP Summit will be held in Luanda, in July, with the transfer to Angola of the Presidency that Portugal has held since 2008. I am certain that Angola will know how to bring CPLP to new stages of coordination among its members and of international assertiveness.

CPLP is currently a dynamic organization where cooperation embraces a growing number of areas.

Cooperation based upon a common language of growing global expression and whose importance we wish to see recognized in the organizations of which we are members, primarily within the United Nations.

I wish to welcome the electoral acts held in 2009 in Mozambique and in Guinea Bissau, as significant contributions to the process of reconstruction and democratic consolidation in these two countries so close to us.

Portugal is particularly pleased to witness the growing international recognition for Brazil’s role in the search for solutions for the challenges of our times, which clearly outlines the legitimacy of its aspiration to a permanent seat at United Nations Security Council.

CPLP includes 5 African States and our relation of proximity with the African continent is well known. Portugal has always supported the strengthening of relations between Europe and Africa.

The EU-Africa Strategy, approved in the Lisbon Summit, continues to be a landmark in the relationship between the two continents. At a time when the possibility of adjusting its provisions is under consideration, it is important to recall that this is a joint Strategy. Therefore, any changes must result from a shared and consensual assessment.

Latin America is a continent to which we are linked by historical and cultural bonds. I wish to salute the beginning, this year, of the celebrations of the bicentenaries of the independence of many of its States which Portugal was, in many cases, the first country to recognize.

November 2009 witnessed the end of the Portuguese Presidency of the Iberian American Conference, which resulted in a qualitative leap in the cooperation between its Member States.

We continue to be strongly engaged in the strengthening of our relationship with each of the Latin American countries and, within the scope of the European Union, we will continue to strive for the fostering of relations with Latin America.

In November, Portugal will host the NATO Summit, where we hope to see approved the new Strategic Concept of the Organization, which is the pillar of a transatlantic relationship that we consider to be essential for international Peace and stability.

Portugal, a founder member of the Atlantic Alliance, has always been a faithful and committed Ally. The recent and significant reinforcement of the Portuguese military contribution in Afghanistan is a sign of the sense of responsibility with which we assume this collective effort towards peace and stability. However, we are conscious that the Afghan people will ultimately be responsible for its own security, and that no real solution will ever be achieved unless the regional context in which Afghanistan belongs is taken into account.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are facing a demanding year, but equally a year of great opportunities for the assertion of the value of international cooperation in the building of a better world. This is what I heartily wish will happen.

Thank you very much.