The Main Lines of Portuguese Foreign Policy
Lisbon, 18 June 2002
Speech by HE Mr. António Martins da Cruz, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities Abroad, at the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic1. It is with the utmost pleasure that I am here, today, to address you on the main lines of Portuguese foreign policy. I am, as I have always been, perfectly aware of the importance of the "State dimension" of our foreign policy and we shall proceed, the Secretaries of State working with me and myself, to follow that path daily on carrying out our governing work.
Nowadays, there are new situations which call for further effort and that demand new abilities to prevent crises and problems. We must act and not only react, trying to find differentiating and national value-added factors to join common interests and solve real situations.
It is in the light of this, Sirs, that I uphold that our foreign policy, and mostly of all European policy, has to acquire a redoubled strategic mobility in order to meet globalization and the new challenges Europe faces, as for example, the enlargement and the institutional reform which will have predictable repercussions on our country.
2. European issues and the relationship with our community partners and, particularly with Spain, are hence a priority for Portuguese foreign affairs.
Whenever we mention priorities for Portuguese European policy, we should divide them into two category types:
a) the long-term strategic priorities, being therefore of a structuring type, that are interrelated with the triangle of interconnections between the Convention and the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference, the enlargement of the Union and the negotiations for the forthcoming financial perspectives for the period 2007-2013 and the direct impact on the next community support framework: these three issues are connected and only their overview, duly conjugated, will permit to ensure the adequate protection of Portugal's interests within the scope of the European Union.
b) the matters which are being proposed by the European Commission, acting in the exercise of its powers in the Union and to which we must always be ready to reply to. These matters may be issues without no deep implications in our interests; nonetheless, they may assume the greatest political, social and economic relevance for Portugal, with a mere conjunctive or structural impact. The best example is the recent proposal the Commission has made for revising the Common Fisheries Policy. Allow me to make a brief remark, just to mention that I consider the Commission's proposal inadequate, incoherent and unfair: inadequate, because it does not regard in a balanced manner the sustainable development principle; incoherent, because it proposes identical structural measures for different situations; and unfair, because it does not take into account the specificity of the fishing sectors of the various Member States.
On the other hand, as regards the institutional reforms which are being discussed in the Convention and which will be the topic of the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference (presumably in 2004), we shall guide our position taking into consideration the following five principles:
- equality between the States;
- economic and social cohesion, i.e., solidarity between Member States;
- inter-institutional balance, with regard to the present community method and the refusal of directories;
- gradualness, not so much in the sense of taking small footsteps, but so that the steps taken are understood by public opinion;
- the necessary restoring of trust levels between States, severely affected in Nice and afterwards.
It is still too early to explain our attitude since we are still awaiting to learn more in detail the issues to be decided upon, a fact that will probably take place after the European Council of Seville and, most certainly, during the course of the Convention.
3. There are other priorities in our foreign policy. I shall point out only a few:
- our active participation in setting forth proposals for consensus and for European policies within the scope of the CFSP (Common Foreign and Security Policy) mechanisms; for a country with a universal foreign policy (a case which does not always apply to European countries of our country's size), the active participation in the decision-making processes of CFSP is essential to ensure consistency between European positions and what we ourselves support, particularly in relation to Africa, to Latin America and to Asia;
- the strengthening of our presence in the Atlantic Alliance, in conformity with article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which is, simultaneously, an assurance of solidarity between allied countries and an unavoidable and crucial reality for our own defense;
our participation in NATO follows two other equally important vectors: the favored relationship with the United States of America, a country with which we share an Atlantic maritime border and the proposal to consolidate European security capabilities and, in the long-term, defense capabilities which are aims we share with the European Union;
- our relationship with Africa, with particular emphasis on the Portuguese Speaking African Countries to which we envisage giving a renewed approach, particularly in the case of Angola, taking advantage of the new perspectives for the Peace Process but also without neglecting Mozambique and the other Portuguese Speaking African Countries;
- the framework of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) should be adequately taken advantage of by intensifying it in regard to several co-operation matters, so as to permit an international visibility we understand would be beneficial for this Community;
- the search for solutions which permit to experience and take real advantage of the Iberian-American space, with our interaction with Latin America and, particularly with Brazil, a country with which we must intensify and develop a global relationship that goes beyond cultural and economic sectors, achieving a political entailment which should transpose into daily life the vast human resources on which our common history is based upon;
- our relationship with Asia, particularly with India and Pakistan, but also with China, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore has to be re-dimensioned in the political, economic and cultural sectors; and in the case of China, the statute of Macau should be taken advantage of, in order to favor further impetus in economic and cultural areas;
- in addition, the new independent Timor statute should now allow us to focus co-operation from another viewpoint, giving priority to language and security issues; and we should, likewise, keep up a permanent dialogue with the Asia-Pacific states, namely with Australia and Indonesia, in order to ensure the consolidation of the Timor independence;
- we also believe that it is essential to maintain an effective and mutually beneficial dialogue with the countries of the South Mediterranean shore, particularly with those that are closer to us; we cannot forget that Morocco is a neighboring country of ours, with which we share a common maritime border; that Algeria is an essential energy supplying source for our country and that Tunisia is an emerging market for us; we cannot allow the Peace Process in the Middle East to freeze dialogue between the two Mediterranean shores and it is also on account of that that we are compelled to contribute, in every possible manner, towards facilitating the peace process itself;
- I would also like to mention that - stressing that many other subjects could be addressed in our foreign policy on account of their relevance - a country like Portugal should know how to take advantage of the multilateral framework, particularly of the United Nations system, to plan its own interests and to increase the visibility of its positions; it is also in this context that the Chairmanship of the OSCE which Portugal holds until the end of the current year is important.
Besides, the participation in the peace-keeping missions, the candidatures to posts in decision-making bodies of international organizations and greater number of Portuguese people as international public officials are further vectors by which we may continue to assert ourselves at multilateral level.
4. As a brief summing up, I would furthermore state that the Portuguese Chairmanship of the OSCE has already obtained positive results: the implementation of our work programme has run at a good pace, especially as regards the subject we chose as having priority which is the prevention and fight against terrorism.
The high level meeting held in Lisbon on the 12th June represented an uncommon initiative in the sense that it allowed us to sit at the same table, for the first time, the Secretaries General and the High Representatives of the main international and regional organizations involved in the fight against terrorism. Organized in the spirit of the so-called Co-operative Security Platform, the Lisbon meeting thus shaped the first contribution towards the international co-ordination efforts directed by the United Nations.
We shall work so that the conclusions reached in this meeting may be considered in the OSCE Charter on the Prevention and Fight against Terrorism, should the political conditions have been established for its approval at the meeting of the Ministerial Council in December.
In a year marked by important decisions on the enlargement of NATO and the EU and by the new NATO-Russia understanding, our efforts in the capacity of the OSCE Chairmanship aim at valorizing the role of this Organization within the framework for the European Security Architecture. To safeguard the OSCE as a "common abode" seems crucial to us in order to reinforce the objective of having an Europe without any separating lines and pledged to deepen its relationship with regions such as the Caucasus and Central Asia.
President Putin recently reiterated the importance Russia gives to OSCE. Furthermore, on the forthcoming 28th June, and after I have visited Washington, I shall travel to Moscow to discuss with my Russian counterpart the priorities of our Chairmanship and the Russian perspectives on the future of the Organization.
Mr. President
Hon. Members of Parliament,
5. It was fortunate that the Prime Minister decided to add the designation "and of Portuguese Communities" to the traditional title of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
First and foremost, the title reveals that the Government prizes the importance of the defense and protection of our communities, the Portuguese Diaspora throughout the world. Nonetheless, it also points towards the need of an increasing effort to be made by the governmental bodies in charge of such matters, beginning with, of course, the network of Embassies and Consulates which has to be adjusted to conditions closer to the real ones Portuguese emigrants experience in foreign countries, with the reinforcement of decisive sectors such as the cultural, trade and tourism areas.
Yet, these measures will not stop here. Our governing work will try to:
- reinforce the co-operation granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in keeping up with policies addressed to Portuguese citizens in foreign countries by the different governmental departments, particularly by turning the Interdepartmental Committee for Emigration and Portuguese Communities more dynamic;
render more significance to the Portuguese language by adopting an integral teaching model;
- strengthen the link with Portuguese descendants whilst being a crucial component in the relationship with local communities in the host countries;
encourage associate activity, particularly in its cultural area and in valorizing the role of the Council for Portuguese Communities, in its capacity as a consultative body for governmental policy. As a matter of fact, the Council of Ministers recently approved a motion for amending Law 48/96 which established the Council for Portuguese Communities. That motion was received precisely today in this Parliament.
I could indicate further measures, however, my objective at this moment is not to elaborate an extensive list describing them as what I aim at is to clarify well how important the "Portuguese Communities" are to me.
In the full capacity of my position as Minister for the Portuguese Communities, I hope to continue giving every issue related with our Communities all the time and energy I possibly can, in order to follow closely their situations, their interests and thus find adequate solution for their problems.
6. The co-operation with the Portuguese Speaking Countries does not exhaust our project - which equally brings to mind the European Union plan - since we are also trying to exercise influence upon development policies at a multilateral level. This deals with an area of political action that is equally of prior importance for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For that matter, we must also learn how to use with imagination the scant resources available for co-operation purposes, in order to set new endeavors in motion and to make business initiatives profitable.
To that end, and bearing in mind the objective shared with our community partners which establishes that public assistance to development must reach 0,33% of the GNP by 2006, I believe that, despite the budgetary constraints it is suffering from, it is Portugal's duty to re-dimension and to rationalize its co-operation policy since this country cannot and should not forget its historical commitments.
In fact, despite having had its prime point in time, the present co-operation model is out of date and one may already detect various strong signs of inefficiency and malfunctioning of different sorts. On account of this fact, and bearing in mind the overlapping of co-operation mechanisms and logic existing in the different Ministries, we need to ensure the following:
- uniformity in leading the co-operation policy by merging the Institute for Portuguese Co-operation and the Portuguese Agency for Assisting Development;
- termination of inefficiencies and wastage of financial and human resources, improving the functional linkage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the remaining Ministries.
7. We must try to increasingly spread foreign policy among public opinion and, consequently, mobilize a collective will towards national projects and values.
Parliament, and its honorable members, are in an unique privileged position to play a pedagogical role as regards information. To that end, and just as I had the opportunity of mentioning to the Portuguese members of the European Parliament, you may count upon my availability to inform people on issues regarding Portuguese foreign policy.
This being the case, it is my belief that you will not fail to respond to this challenge and Government hopes to be able to count upon the results thereby achieved to proceed with the national aims regarding foreign policy.
The professional demands which the defense of State interests in the foreign affairs requires us to have, will not hinder - but rather reinforces - the need to avail of the arising circumstances to direct those matters, to explain the situation and, thus, to defend in a better manner the very national interests.
Consequently, the Government also hopes to be able to count upon the engagement of the Members of Parliament to discuss and improve the mechanisms of the so-called "Parliamentary Diplomacy", understood as an extremely important component for the assertion of Portugal in Europe and in a world process which we would prefer to be more performing, visible and effective.
8. What will diplomacy in the 21st Century be like?
Just as the majority of our main partners in the European Union, I believe that we are searching for better solutions to rationalize our diplomatic machinery in order to adjust it to foreseeable demands.
Take for instance the European Union sphere. I have doubts as to whether, in the relationship between the Members Sates of the Union, the canons of diplomacy and the classic models for the defense of national interests sanctioned in a experience which has been built throughout the last centuries still prevail. The multiplication of decision-making proceedings, the very community decision-making processes and the integrating nature (some would call, federalist) of the European model seem to advise us, in the other capital cities of the Fifteen Member States, that we should adopt a Public Diplomacy - more economic than political, more exposed and less reserved, more similar to parliamentary action than the proceedings of the Vienna Congress.
We are all in search of the ideal model and the topic is subject to analysis, either by the community or by the persons responsible for the Member States Foreign Policy themselves. On the other hand, the answers to globalization and to other major transversal topics also demand that some alterations be made to the policy-making process, crisis management and to the performance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In effect, we can and we should increase the value-added importance that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself has for civil society, for the remaining central or regional administration and for public opinion. In short, for the final product consumers of the services that are elaborated and provided there.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should signify a political plan to act in foreign areas but it should likewise mean a value-added ministry for Portuguese entrepreneurs who wish to invest or to export and a value-added entity for our emigrants or for tourists who require the services of our Consulates. To sum up, a multiplication factor in the visibility of Portugal.
If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not participate in formulating international policies, if it does know how to facilitate national integration in the hard nucleus of the European Union, if it does not contribute towards tourists wishing to visit us, towards investors wanting to invest and towards the export of our products, then it knows not how to interpret the 21st century diplomacy.
On the other hand, the mentioned diplomacy should emphasize its economic propensity and add to traditional practice a commercial orientation. It is thus important to optimize resources, to establish synergies and to provide common infrastructures, particularly in foreign countries. Consequently, there is a process under revue both by the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to activate their respective structures abroad and to establish common platforms which will allow for an integrated approach. They aim at introducing joint solutions that will make both economic agents and political decision-makers from those countries fully aware that the unification of the Portuguese State's foreign representation corresponds to a successful dynamic action.
There are some diplomatic cases, as for instance the Peace Process in Angola, in which History gives us some convictions. In Africa, in Latin America and, in some cases in Asia itself, we have experience, vision and responsibilities.
There are other situations in which we have to innovate. Take for instance, the defense and safeguard of the Portuguese language and culture. We are undergoing a decisive phase in which Europe speeds up its accession and during which, both in the European and Peninsular framework, borders are ill-defined and sovereignty moves to other latitudes.
To this flexibility should correspond the assertion of National Identity which is projected - outside and also inside - by the consciousness and by the very assertion of our Culture, our Language and our posture in the world.
The cultural factor is, perhaps, one of the most powerful elements of our identity as it is, after all, what sets us apart and differentiates us from all the other peoples both in the globalization process at world level and in the integration at European and peninsular level.
Likewise, in more competitive markets such as the North-American one, the cultural factor ought to be both an inducement and a substance for political action.
9. Allow me to conclude my intervention by quoting some straightforward issues in foreign policy which have been conducted by consecutive Governments and which permit the assertion and the enhancement of Portugal in the international scenario that probably exceeds our dimension but which corresponds to our historical commitments:
- the defense of Human Rights, an ethical and universal value;
- the support to the efforts made by the international community in the refugee issue;
- the choice of Oceans in the United Nations multilateral system;
- the fight against drug trafficking;
- sustainable development and its relation with environmental issues;
- availability to act in peace processes such as the Angola, Mozambique, Western Sahara and Timor ones, to mention only the more significant ones.
Our foreign policy is an instrument at the service of important matters or of national purposes which are consensual in Portugal.