The president of the republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, this Thursday classified relations between Portugal and Latvia as a “geopolitical alliance” and defended that the European Union must emerge as a “strong global power”.
“Europe must come forward, the European Union, as a strong world power, otherwise we will miss this opportunity – always in cooperation with the United States of America, with the transatlantic relationship”he stated, referring to the future post-war geopolitical framework in Ukraine.
The head of state spoke in English, in a hotel in Lisbon, during the closing session of a business forum, in which he participated together with his counterpart from Latvia, Egils Levits, who is on a state visit to Portugal.
For the President of Latvia, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called for the strengthening of bilateral trade relations, as he believed that “much more needs to be done”, and proposed cooperation in the energy sector, taking advantage of the geographical location and energy connections of the two countries: “You will work in the north, we will work in the south”.
According to the Portuguese head of state, Portugal and Latvia are “experiencing a phase of geopolitical alliance” and are “very similar” countries, although far away: “You are in a very important geostrategic position, in North-East Europe and in South-West Europe. Both have a universal dimension, as platforms between continents, cultures and people”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasized that both belong to the European Union and NATO and pointed out that Latvia and Portugal are candidates for positions of non-permanent members in the United Nations Security Council in the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 biennia respectively .
Regarding the current international scenario with the war caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “no one knows for how long”, the President of the Republic considered that this is “a global war” that will “change the balance of power”.
“The United States of America will remain a superpower, Russia will leave the war as it started, but weaker, as a regional power, no longer a world power,” he continued. “And China will rise and dominate Russia economically in some sectors,” he predicted.
It was in this context that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa defended that the European Union must emerge as a “strong world power”.
“And we hope that India will arise when it wants, but that other countries can also arise: South Africa, solving internal problems, and Brazil, solving a division that really divides Brazilian society”he added.
At the beginning of his speech, the head of state said that in 1921 Portugal recognized sovereignty and established diplomatic relations with Latvia: “It was the beginning of a long road. And this first stage was difficult for you. But you have always counted on us, we have never acknowledged any power of the invaders and we have always respected your sovereignty for decades of your life.”
He then highlighted the bilateral agreement between governments on the promotion and mutual protection of investments signed in 1995 and pointed out that imports and exports are still very low.
According to him, they should be intensified first in areas where there is already trade, “agricultural products and equipment, paper, clothing, footwear”, but also in other sectors. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasized the energy sector, which “makes the difference” for economic independence.
The Portuguese head of state was in Latvia in September 2018 for an informal meeting of the Arraiolos group, which brings together non-executive presidents of European Union countries.
Source: DN
