Talk by HE António Santana Carlos
Summary
The main objectives of the Portuguese foreign policy are to promote and to protect our interests abroad, both at bilateral and multilateral level. To that end, the Portuguese diplomacy acts in the political, economic, cultural and defence fields, keeping a close contact with all the concerned departments of the Administration, as well as with the companies and the institutions that already pursue or intend to start to develop their activities in other countries. Special attention and support is also dedicated to the Portuguese communities living abroad, which, today, represent a total of 5 million people. Apart from these goals, we established priorities in our external relations that are very much determined by strategic, geographic and historic reasons.
It is a matter of fact, that since Portugal reached independence, in 1143, our ties with Europe were a priority in our foreign policy. Through the centuries, as I mentioned earlier, we have privileged a special relationship with the maritime power, in order to preserve our independence and territorial integrity. Nowadays, the European Union represents more than 80% of our exchanges in the fields of trade and investment and with its member countries we share the same culture and values.
Within the EU, Portugal actively follows the process of European construction, defending the interests of the Portuguese citizens and contributing for the achievement of the Union’s internal and external goals. In the latter area, it is important for us to establish a consensus with the other Member States on foreign policy issues, regarding, for instance, the positions that the EU shall adopt in international conflicts and in its relations with the emerging economies and Africa.
The United States of America is also a key partner, in particular after the 2nd World War, and the Portuguese government also attaches great importance to our participation in NATO, an Alliance that proved to be indispensable to secure peace during the Cold War and afterwards.
We do believe that the United Nations is an essential forum to preserve peace and stability in the world and for consultations and debate of all the issues that request a global response, such as human rights, sustainable development, terrorism, drugs, non-proliferation, climate change and epidemics. Portugal actively participates in the UN system.
The relations with the other seven Portuguese speaking countries are also, by historical and cultural reasons, one of the priorities of our foreign policy. Together, we have established a Community (CPLP), which is a useful Forum of consultation and for cooperation in the most important governmental areas.