In the Monastery of São Jerónimo de Yuste, famous because the most powerful monarch of his time chose to die here five centuries ago, everything is ready to hold today the ceremony for the presentation of the European Carlos V Prize to António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations since 2017. This celebration of “Europeanism” and “the commitment to multilateralism, peace and justice” of the former Portuguese head of government – which coincides with Europe Day – is expected to see the presence of King Felipe VI of Spain, who will present the prize, and President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister António Costa.
The protocol and security elements deployed in Cuacos de Yuste, the village in Spanish Extremadura near the monastery where Emperor Charles V, lord of the Netherlands and king of Spain, spent his last days, have already started to take effect. come. domains in America. The man who gives his name to the prestigious prize of the Yuste Foundation – previously received by personalities such as the Russian Mikhail Gorbachev or the German Angela Merkel, but also by the Portuguese Jorge Sampaio and José Manuel Durão Barroso – died within these walls in 1558, after abdication. Married to Isabella of Portugal, he bequeathed the Spanish throne to his son, Philip II, later also Philip I of Portugal.
For the President of the Regional Government of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara: “António Guterres is a man who, in his many responsibilities, has always been committed to the European project and the values it represents: solidarity, justice, human dignity, freedom and democracy and, as the jury for the award stated, “Guterres has been a key figure in a period of unprecedented change with dire consequences for Europe and the world. With his tireless work, he has promoted actions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine or the climate crisis, to implement ambitious reforms to meet the challenges of the 21st century”.
Interestingly, although born in Lisbon in 1949, Guterres has strong family ties to Beira Baixa, the neighboring province of Extremadura. It is known that as a child he spent summers with his grandparents in a village near Fundão, Donas, which is on the same latitude as Yuste. And even after graduating in Electrical Engineering from Técnico and following a political career, he never lost those Beira connections, neither when he was Prime Minister (1995-2002) nor when he served the UN as High Commissioner for Refugees (2005-2015) . , to the point that his election as Secretary-General of the United Nations was widely celebrated in Donas, then the scene of reports of Guterres’s Beira roots. There was no lack of memories of the boy “Toni”, who “always read the letter at Mass”, an allusion to the supposed Catholicism of this politician who was president of the Socialist International.
The Director-General for External Action of the Regional Government of Extremadura and President of the Executive Committee of the Yuste Foundation, Rosa Balas, points out that “the current Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, meets all the requirements to be distinguished be with the Carlos V for his proven and long professional career dedicated to social engagement, and for being a European committed to multilateralism, peace and justice”. In addition, he emphasizes how much the award of this award to Guterres means for a region like Extremadura, since for “a country marked by its European identity, its Ibero-American vocation and its frontier realities, it is an immense satisfaction that the honored of this edition of the Carlos V Prize is Portuguese. With Portugal we maintain a long-standing relationship of friendship and cooperation that allows us to build many of our current and future projects together with our Portuguese neighbors and brothers.”
The importance of this distinction for Portuguese-Spanish relations is also emphasized by the Spanish ambassador in Lisbon, Marta Betanzos, who states that “the award of the European Carlos V Prize to António Guterres strengthens the Iberian dimension of the European project and the consolidation of it within Europe.” the framework of multilateralism, of the strategic priorities of the next Spanish Presidency of the European Union”.
João Mira Gomes, Ambassador of Portugal in Madrid, also emphasizes the Europeanism of the former Prime Minister and the work for deepening Iberian relations: “When I heard about the award of the Carlos V Prize to the Secretary General of the United Nations, engineer António Sir this was reflected both in the coordination of aid to refugees and the homeless and in the difficult task, during two mandates, in periods of high demand, to promote the values and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations António Guterres will be the third Portuguese citizen to receive the Carlos V Prize, after Jorge Sampaio and José Manuel Durão Barroso. I’m sure it won’t be the last”.
Guterres, who turned 74 in April, is today one of the world’s most accomplished politicians in action. For example, consider that when he became Prime Minister, John Paul II was Pope, Bill Clinton was President of the United States, and there was still five years left for an almost unknown ex-KGB agent named Vladimir Putin to assume leadership of Russia . It is this unique experience that Filipe Domingues highlights, author with Pedro Latoeiro of a biography of the UN Secretary General already translated into English: “The Europeanist conviction of António Guterres can be divided into two dimensions: the ideological and the pragmatic Guterres, even before his premiership, championed the integration of the eastern states into the EU after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and later, during the tense negotiations over that expansion, where resources and power were shared, Guterres delivered an essential contribution to the consensus that allowed the growth of the European project in the East, as evidenced by the respect it earned from the other heads of government”.
Guterres’s Europeanism is largely shared by his compatriots, as Isabel Meirelles, a specialist in European affairs, points out. “The Eurobarometer, which examines how Europeans view the European Union, regularly shows that Portugal is the Member State whose citizens are most in favor of the European integration process. For example, the pandemic made the Portuguese realize that more powers of the European Union in that area or Health – of which Covax is an excellent example, and which is part of a global initiative aimed at ensuring fair and equitable access to safe and effective vaccines – were a decisive move to overcome covid economies of the member states of the European Union, and their recovery has only been possible, namely with the Recovery and Resilience Plan, of which Portugal is one of the biggest beneficiaries”. This national consensus was reflected in the prime ministers themselves, who were generally Europeanists. “At the government level, you could say that money talks, which is why the bet on the EU is shared by the PS and the PSD, who need these billions to invest in practically all sectors of the economy,” the current social-democratic statement adds. delegate to. The same can be said to a great extent of Spain, which also joined the then European Economic Community, the famous EEC, on January 1, 1986, when the socialist Felipe González, another of the previous winners of the Carlos V Prize, became the chief minister .
However, agreeing that this award of the Carlos V Prize to Guterres is a great honor, Victor Ângelo, who for decades was the Portuguese with the most responsibilities in the machinery of the United Nations, has reservations at this point. “António Guterres has always been a Europeanist, along the lines of the Prime Ministers of the PS, such as Mário Soares, and also the PSD. And that is why this European prize is meaningful to recognize this sincere support for the project of European construction. It is a deserved and very honorable recognition. What is debatable in my opinion is that he is receiving it now, now that he is dealing with a complex and very dangerous international crisis. I commended the Secretary-General’s courage in condemning Russia for the clear violation of international law to invade Russia, but António Guterres, in order to carry out his work at the United Nations, must maintain a balance that avoids being associated with any of the great powers, as the European Union had alone should have asked for the award when he allowed the office of Secretary-General of the United Nations,” said the former UN Deputy Secretary-General.
Guterres has been in Africa for the past few days, visiting Kenya and Burundi. Yesterday, back in Europe, he met in Madrid with the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, with whom he discussed the international agenda, in particular the war in Ukraine. And he is expected in New York tomorrow. The world remains full of challenges for the Secretary-General, and one of the greatest is now taking place in Eastern Europe, which, by his will, would all be democratic, humanistic, and live in peace and justice. It should be noted that, of the 16 Carlos V awards since 1995, this is already the third to be awarded to a Portuguese, as Ambassador João Mira Gomes rightly pointed out.
Source: DN
