The unique ties of Portugal with Latin America, Africa and Asia offer the EU an additional geopolitical value, also said the European deputy
The president of the European Parliament (PE) considered it today to be “impossible to imagine the European Union without Portugal” and the leader of the European Commission, highlighted the Portuguese “unique soul” in the bloc, in statements regarding the 40th anniversary of joining the EU.
“Adherence to the EU has been extremely beneficial for Portugal and its people, but also to the European Union as a whole,” said PE leader Roberta Metsola, in a statement sent to Lusa, noting that “today, it is impossible to imagine the EU without Portugal”.
The president of the community executive, Ursula von der Leyen, for her part, pointed out, in a message on social networks, that “Portugal enriched the union with her unique soul, made of courage, longing and entrepreneurship.”
“Remember that the most difficult seas are not feared: they sailed,” he wrote.
On the day of the 40th anniversary of the signature of Portugal’s Adhesion Treaty to the then European Economic Community (EEC), Roberta Metsola added that “Portugal is a country that personifies what it means to be European. A country with a people that symbolizes the spirit of resilience, solidarity and unity”.
The unique ties of Portugal with Latin America, Africa and Asia offer the EU an additional geopolitical value, the European deputy also said.
The country’s adhesion treaty was signed on June 12, 1985 at the Jeronimos Monastery and the country’s effective entry into the community space took place on January 1, 1986.
On January 1, 1999, Portugal adopted the single currency, the euro, a border that began to circulate in 2002 in 12 countries.
The EEC was renamed the EU with the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty on November 1, 1993, and the single currency was created, introduced to European citizenship and reinforced cooperation in areas such as foreign policy, security, justice and internal affairs.
