Address by Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA, President of Portugal during&nbsp;the formal sitting of the EP&nbsp;(11-14 April 2016) in Strasbourg.

Strasbourg

speech

SCHULZ, Martin (S&D, DE)

EU - Portugal (T)

formal sitting

REBELO DE SOUSA, Marcelo

Address by Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA, President of Portugal: extracts from the formal sitting

EP President Martin Schulz arrival to the Chamber with Portugal&rsquo;s new President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Applause

President of the Portuguese Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa takes the floor.

SOUNDBITE (Portuguese), Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA, President of the Portuguese Republic, All strong convictions never change; I remain convinced of the irreplaceable role of the EU in Europe and in the world. And since it's been a democracy Portugal has been faithful to this idea in its national strategy; whatever President and whatever government. (Applause)

SOUNDBITE (Portuguese), Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA, President of the Portuguese Republic, Europe stood by Portugal and Portugal met its commitments, getting with a clean feet out of the adjustment programme. Today Portugal wants to go on, ensuring financial balance, controlling the deficit, controlling the public debt, and at the same time starting to compensate the social sectors that have been more sacrificed in the recent past.

SOUNDBITE (Portuguese), Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA, President of the Portuguese Republic, We must continue fighting xenophobia and extreme nationalism, rejecting sterile chauvinism, turning our back to isolationism. That in itself is a wonderful legacy which we must continue.

SOUNDBITE (Portuguese), Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA, President of the Portuguese Republic, As a proportion to its population, Portugal is one of the main European countries in showing willingness to take in refugees into Portuguese society. (Applause)

SOUNDBITE (Portuguese), Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA, President of the Portuguese Republic, The Europe that I dream of, the one that has triumphed so many times over barbarism and totalitarianism, will also overcome the threats of religious fanaticism and terrorism. We must act with solidarity in this difficult and tragic context, which turned into attacks which must be unconditionally condemned. I'd like to express once again my solidarity with France and Belgium.

SOUNDBITE (English), Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA, President of the Portuguese Republic, The Europe that I dream of keeps in its memory what Portugal in the strength of its simplicity brought to and from other continents, cultures and civilizations, and that enriches us so much. The Portugal that I bought with me today crossed seas and faraway lands, but never forgot that it belongs to the land of Homer, Shakespeare, Goethe, Proust, Cervantes, Dante, Joyce, Strindberg, Kundera, Kafka, Szymborska, Pessoa, and many many others. We are Europeans, we'll always be Europeans. Thank you very much. Standing ovation.