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Firstly I want to salute the Representatives of the Republic in the Autonomous Regions, Lord Justices Antero Monteiro Diniz and José António Mesquita, and extend to you my very best wishes for the high offices of State that have been vested in you.

The figure of Representatives of the Republic in the Autonomous Regions of The Azores and Madeira was instituted in the 2004 constitutional revision.

This new office stands in the judicial and political tradition of the Ministers for the Republic, and I would thus also wish to say a word of appreciation and deep gratitude to all who, during the past thirty years, have performed those functions. And, very specially, to extend to Dr. Álvaro Laborinho Lúcio the public recognition of the Portuguese State for the dedication and effort with which, in the last three years, he has exercised the functions of Minister for the Republic in the Autonomous Region of The Azores.

I equally wish to salute the representatives of the Governments of the Autonomous Regions. I am certain the Representatives of the Republic and the regional governments will establish a fruitful and loyal cooperation, since the balance between unity and diversity from which it depends has, after all, been the key to the success of the autonomic experience.

The appointment of the Representatives of the Republic is a constitutional attribute of the President of the Republic, after hearing Government proposals. It is thus a power vested in, and a personal choice of the President of the Republic. For this reason I will always consider that loyalty shown towards the Representatives of the Republic is also loyalty shown to the person responsible for the appointments.

The decision, taken by those who voted the constitutional revision in 2004, to attribute the initiative to the highest magistrate of the Nation and main guarantor of the unity of the State has an unmistakeable political and juridical sense.

With such an option, the authors of Constitutional Law No. 1/2004, wished to clearly point out that the representation of the sovereignty of the Republic in the autonomous regions is one of the noblest and most demanding duties of the Portuguese State.

For this purpose it is necessary that the political, institutional and symbolic dignity of the new functions, which result from its now closer linkage to the President of the Republic, be duly recognized. I have no doubts that all parties, Representatives of the Republic and officers of the government of the autonomous regions, will know how to interpret the intentions of the authors of the 2004 constitutional revision with high regard and sense of State.

The powers attributed by the Constitution to the Representatives of the Republic equally state that they will be called upon to perform a relevant role in the development of one of the finest accomplishments of democratic Portugal: the autonomy of the Regions of The Azores and Madeira.

Regional autonomies represent, within the frame of the Portuguese constitution, a value of national dimension, a structuring feature of our democracy and a fundamental part of the institutional architecture and politics of the Portuguese Republic.

As such, it is expected that the Representatives of the Republic, within the limits of their powers, cooperate with the governments of the Regions and strive to accompany the efforts these have been undertaking in order to answer the needs and anxieties of the peoples of The Azores and Madeira.

Honourable Representatives of the Republic in the Autonomous Regions

In choosing Your Excellencies for this new office, I immediately gave regard to the profile of the personalities which will represent the Republic in the Autonomous Regions and to the vast experience in the service of the State and dedication to the public cause that both possess.

The appointment of Your Excellencies, personalities worthy of recognition, with long and prestigious careers in the exercise of the most responsible of State functions, is a sign that the President of the Republic wishes to underscore the committed and active attention which he will dedicate to the Autonomous Regions of The Azores and Madeira.

For all these reasons, Honourable Representatives of the Republic, I want you know that you can count on my firmest support in order that you may accomplish your duties with the dignity and elevation demanded by the representation of the sovereignty of the Republic, with the aim to reinforce national unity and the links of fellowship between all the Portuguese, as the Constitution expressly refers.