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

I was very pleased to accept the invitation to be present at this event, celebrating the 40 years of Expresso, a journal of reference that has accompanied our recent History and that provided a decisive contribution for the Country’s democratization.

Invoking “Portugal in the World” is, before anything else, recalling the Nation that we are. A Nation that, since early times, opened up to different peoples and enriched the World with its capability to promote dialogue and the convergence of diversified cultures.

We arrived at the four corners of the World where we conquered prestige whilst becoming a stakeholder and defending universal values. We are credible as mediators, since we possess the rare art of building bridges and creating bonds.

For that reason as well we are part and present of several multilateral forums, and, not by chance, we are a country that finds in its Language, its Diaspora and the Sea, three identifying components that are the three keywords of its external policies.

Our past is a motive of pride. In the words of Gonçalo M. Tavares, in his wonderful book “A Journey to India”, “time, in an intelligent country, is the most significant extension”. Collective memory is, in effect, a reference point for our current and future action trends.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In 1986 Portugal was reintroduced to Europe, our natural area. Portugal adhered to the European project with a double motivation: democracy and development. But it did not limit itself to the benefits of adhesion. Portugal carried along its Euro-Atlantic characteristics and the valuable assets represented by our universal culture and by the projection of the Portuguese language, the markers of our identity as a People.

In the almost 30 years that have gone by since our adhesion, Europe and the World were subject to great changes. Globalization accelerated and new performers emerged. Portugal kept to its European guiding lines, coherent and consistent with national interests.

We have been, throughout these years, an active performer in the construction and deepening of the European Union. A Union in which the main stanchions are the single market and currency – the euro.

The euro, which Portugal adopted since it’s being launched and replaced the escudo 11 years ago, represents the vanguard of European integration.

An eventual failure in the euro zone would have disastrous consequences for Europe: specifically it would place at issue the internal market; it would bring about archaic nationalisms and weaken the role of European states in the international stage

The sustainability of the euro undoubtedly demands an Economic and Monetary Union capable to respond to the challenges it is facing. But the priorities of the European agenda are not limited to the euro.The deepening of the Budgetary Union and the construction of a Banking Union must go along with the effective strengthening of the Single Market – immediately emphasizing the energy sector – and with an agenda clearly guided towards economic growth and job creation.

The Union must support the States in the restructuring of their economies. The renewal of the paths towards reindustrialization, such as is now defended by several States, including Portugal, is an option that must be encouraged.

The European Union itself is now a relevant platform for Portugal’s relationship with the remainder of the World. The option for European integration and the stake placed on the strengthening of the links with other States are not alternative options or, even less, conflicting options. Rather, these are converging and interactive options. Particularly, the better our European performance, the greater will be our global projection.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Relations with Portuguese speaking countries are a fundamental axis of our foreign policy, both imposed by the past and by current options. The valuation of this legacy is crucial to build a Portugal that can be referenced worldwide.

In the African continent, where the greater part of countries with Portuguese links can be found, we have assumed ourselves responsible for the success of a transition to democracy, at the same time as we are recognized for husbanding tolerance and cultural dialogue.

Our role in procuring efforts for peace and democratic stability in Africa identifies us as an unbending defender of Human Rights.

In their turn, economic and entrepreneurial relations tend to be measured by knowledge sharing, with special emphasis placed upon staff training, with benefits for all the parties concerned.

I am not just referring to CPLP countries. Portugal is more than ever present in countries outside the Portuguese speaking circuit. The way in which we act has allowed our treading new paths, with particular relevance in Southern Africa. Portuguese language in Africa is a powerful ally, both for its importance within regional organizations and for its economic value.

The excellence of the relations we have been able to achieve in Africa is a singular mark of the confidence with which we have been globally favoured. In Asia, primarily, which is so visibly inserted in the agenda for the future. If we are able today to look towards Asia as a priority, it is in our History that we find a strong foundation to develop the potential contained in a strengthened partnership.

Without designs concerning past issues, we have commemorated very significant dates in our relationship with the East. In the current year we are celebrating the 500 years of the arrival of the Portuguese – the first Europeans – in China, and the 470 years of our arrival, once again as European pioneers, in Japan.

In my journeys to Asia I understood, very clearly and with particular emotion, that the Portuguese presence in the East has not been forgotten, but is also much cherished. What is important, however, is that the positive perception of Portugal can be energized in the light of what we can jointly achieve, now and in the future.

This is what I tried to carry out during my visits to Eastern parts: in India, to start with – the destination of my second State Visit – but equally to Singapore and Indonesia. The latter – an historical marker, since it was the first State Visit of a Portuguese President to Indonesia – was an effective turn of a new leaf in the relations between Portugal with that great Country and with the region.

I also visited East Timor to commemorate the 10th anniversary of its independence. The construction of a Timorese State placed a challenge to the whole of the international community, and to which the Portuguese people, rising in one only voice, responded since the first moment. Here, the preservation of the language and, in particular, the widening of CPLP, extended the action of the Portuguese language to the Asian region.

Macau should equally be recalled, without nostalgia, but within a perspective of present and future. Our relations with Macau, located in a region with an enormous potential to be explored, may well become a privileged platform for a greater proximity with China, a political and economic power under construction, and with the remainder of Asia.

Here again the Portuguese language is considered as a strategic asset, as a vehicle for culture, science and entrepreneurship. Surely not by chance, there is a growing interest, in Asia, in the learning of our language.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In my empowerment ceremony, in 2006, I quoted Miguel Torga, who described Portugal as a “country framed by the sea”. This sea is the Atlantic.

Our Atlantic vocation is reflected in the way we are projected and related with the peoples on the other side of the ocean. Our relations with the United States and Canada, our partners as founders of NATO, have reached a degree of solidity and political maturity based upon the sharing of values and principles of common strategic interest.

The dynamics of the community of Portuguese and Portuguese descendants that live and work in these two countries, United States and Canada, are a fundamental link that must deserve our best regard.

In the Southern Atlantic, in Latin America, a region with which we also have a secular relationship and where we enjoy a relevant capital asset of trust, we find today several of the main power plants of the world economy and of international policy.

In addition to the special relationship with Brazil, the approach to other countries in the region – such as Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Chile, Argentina or Venezuela – must be a fundamental component of Portugal’s foreign policy. The stake placed on Iberian American partnerships has, in my view, a great future potential.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Mediterranean is the source of the ancestral origins of our cultural matrix. The Mediterranean unites us with our neighbours and with our Judaeo-Christian heritage.

We have to project the Country and keep a close look over on southern neighbours. To start with, Morocco, our nearest neighbour, but also Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt – countries that are going through a deep transitional process. It is fundamental that this dynamic of change is based upon the strengthening of democratic institutions and on an inclusive and permanent dialogue, in order to counter radical or extremist trends.

Further away, Turkey, a bridge and platform of civilizations, is our partner in NATO. Portugal has always defended Turkey’s adhesion to the European Union. Due to its strategic position, to the multifaceted cultural reality of which it is an example, we must strengthen and diversify the bonds that we share. I thus salute the dynamism that is framing our bilateral relationship – economic and political.

In a real period of economic growth, Turkey is an excellent opportunity to access the Central Asian emergent markets. It is a fundamental – and global – performer in the issues of energy and external policy, in addition to being an unalienable partner in the resolution of the permanent conflict in Europe’s doorstep.

The sole solution for the conflict in the Middle East is that of two independent States – Israel and Palestine – living side by side, in peace and security. Portugal, having supported, last November, the raising of Palestine’s Status in the United Nations, meanwhile recognized as a Non Member Observer State, expressed its commitment with the Peace Process.

A word concerning the Persian Gulf, a region where the Portuguese have been present since the 16th century. On the way to India, the Arabian Peninsula was an obligatory stopping stage for our navigators. In the last few years we have been rediscovering the countries in that region, countries that contain multiple opportunities for our companies, with mutual benefits that, as far as we are concerned, we must not put to waste.

Russia continues an important performer in the international stage, not only because it is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, but also because its history, its geography and its many natural riches confer on it such a statute.

Portugal and Russia have maintained contacts for many centuries, especially from the establishment of diplomatic relations, in 1779.

Once the interregnum of the Cold War became past, we resumed a healthy relationship of understanding and cooperation. As Prime Minister I had the honour to sign, in 1994, the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between both our countries. Russia is not just an important market, which has engendered a growing interest for Portuguese exporters, but also a partner that should be preserved in the context of its closer relationship with the European Union.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The weight of a country in the World is not exhausted, naturally, by its bilateral relationships. In international forums Portugal has an influence greater than its relative weight. Portugal is justly viewed as a neutral mediator, as a negotiator of consensus and as a defender of universal values. A pioneer in the abolition of the death penalty, Portugal continues heedful and active in the defence of Human Rights.

Culturally, the identification and preservation of the twenty four original Portuguese assets spread over Africa, Asia and America, classified by UNESCO as World Heritage, underline the importance of our presence in the Word. UNESCO also provided global visibility to an important Portuguese cultural label and to our language, when classifying “Fado” as an Intangible World Heritage.

At another level, emphasis should be placed on the relevance of CPLP, an organization that has been shown as a body of reference in the international stage.

Few countries with Portugal’s size can be proud of having been elected as non permanent members of the United Nations Security Council in two consecutive decades. We successfully ended, last month, our two year mandate. In the centre of international decision we became aware, once more, of the urgent need for the reform of that organization.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I started this reflection stating that it was not by chance that Portugal found in its Language, in the Diaspora and in the Sea three identifying markers that are the keywords to its presence in the world.

The presence of the Portuguese language in the international context is growing. The figures are impressive. Portuguese language, as you may be aware, is the official idiom of eight countries and of a Chinese Special Administrative Region, thus corresponding to a universe of approximately 240 million people.

Portuguese is one of the languages with greater expansion in the whole world, particularly in areas with strong economic growth, such as China or Latin American countries, where it is considered as a language of opportunity and business. It is also the working language of several regional organizations, in addition to being an important vehicle of communication in the Internet and in its social networks.

Also undeniable today is what I have been defending for many years: its relevance for the competitiveness of our economy. In a recent study, it was estimated that the industries and services in which Portuguese language is a key component represent 17% of the Portuguese GDP.

As a second marker of identity, the Diaspora stands out. I have frequently met many Portuguese that live and work abroad. I discerned renewed, reinvigorated, dynamic communities. New and old generation Portuguese. And many young staff members, diligent and enterprising, successful entrepreneurs.

The Diaspora, made up of Portuguese emigrants and descendants, is a precious asset. They are almost 5 million Portuguese, real Portuguese ambassadors and the first line of defence and assertion of Portuguese culture abroad.

For this reason I want to salute all the initiatives launched in support of the links between the Portuguese Communities and the Country, amongst which the setting up, on 26 December ultimo, of the Council of the Portuguese Diaspora.

And, as the third trace of Portuguese identity, the Sea. With a very particular geography, Portugal became related with the rest of the World via the Sea. It was through the Sea that we arrived in other regions, met other cultures and countries, and it will more than ever be through the sea that we must reach other markets.

In latter years, Portugal assumed a leadership role in sea related issues, either globally, in the United Nations, or European, in the European Union.

Concern with sea related issues has been constant in my mandates as President of the Republic. This is a cause on behalf of which it is worth while fighting and working jointly.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It was in the vertigo of travelling that Portugal became aware of itself, of what it has best.

Throughout its History, projecting itself in the World, Portugal has become renewed and overcome challenges. A World it discovered and provided for discovery and where it can avail itself of a vast capital of trust and sympathy.

Today’s Portugal must be a motive for hope. We are a democratic and open country, both economically and culturally. Portugal was always greater when opened to the World, when it did not fear adventure and risk. This is the lesson of History, the learning that we must assume at a time when it will become what we make of it.

This is our time. If we know how to act with intelligence, firmness and responsibility, we must not fear the present, since a better future is a reality within our reach.

I end by renewing my congratulations to Expresso for its 40 years and, in particular, to the organizers of this grand conference on the topic “Portugal in the World”.

Thank you.