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Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa left this message at a ceremony to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the Armistice of the Great War, the 99th anniversary of the League of Combatants, and the 46th anniversary of the end of the Overseas War.
In an intervention at the Monument to the Overseas Combatants, in Lisbon, the head of state also drew attention to the application of the Statute of Ex-Combatant approved in July in the Assembly of the Republic, which he described as “a scheme to be achieved.”
The President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces paid tribute to the “fighters of Portugal” in the different stages of the country’s history and in these “difficult times of pandemic”, when the military “help hospitals, schools, homes, communities “.
“A tribute that is never excessive, even when it seems that due justice will never be given again, such as attention comparable to that already provided to those who exercise other sovereign functions, such as the Judiciary and the Public Ministry,” he said.
Next, the Head of State defended “the importance of, with the Government and military leaderships, taking into account, along with positive steps in capabilities, in the short, medium and long term, the priority of effective human resources and status. To express the recognition of the role of the Armed Forces as the highest pillar of a democratic rule of law “as is Portugal.
In his speech, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa condemned “the vandalism in Coimbra of a monument dedicated to the heroes of Ultramar” at the end of September, referring that “the accusations of murderers” arose against “anonymous heroes who were fulfilling a mission they had not decided , that he had made a commitment to them, and that they assumed it was a collective imperative to proceed.
“I do not doubt for a second in the rejection of intolerable gestures of historical injustice, together with the condemnatory creation of climates of radicalization in Portuguese society,” he reinforced, considering that those who fought in the former Portuguese colonies were “slaughtered serfs in long and personal self-denial campaigns. and collective “.
Before the Minister of State and National Defense, João Gomes Cravinho, and representatives of the Armed Forces, the President of the Republic began his speech by paying a “grateful tribute” to the Portuguese military, the “fighters of the foundation” and “the saga “of crossing oceans, connecting continents, living with cultures and civilizations”, to those who were in the struggles “for the affirmation and restoration of independence.”
“To the fighters from the hells of the Great War, to the fighters of almost a decade and a half in Africa, to the fighters of the peace and humanitarian missions, in different worlds where defense and national security are at stake,” he continued. , before thanking the “combatants” for the internal battles for the security and well-being of the Portuguese people, in situations of contingency, calamity and emergency, as in this pandemic ”.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, “this ceremony had to be performed, even in symbolic terms, as a token of gratitude.”
Later, the President of the Republic spoke about the Statute of Ex-Combatant, saying that its approval in parliament was “late” and “postponed since the previous legislature” and that now “the execution of that statute” is missing.
“In addition to guaranteeing the presence of his League [dos Combatentes] throughout the national territory ”, he added.
The president ended his speech by stating that “a country that cures to honor its Armed Forces, its combatants, is a country that respects and gives respect, it is a country that knows how to distinguish the essential from the accessory, it is a country that understands your past, your present and your future “.
After this ceremony, in which the soldiers who died in the service of the country were evoked, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa visited the Museo del Combatente and at the exit he did not want to make statements to journalists.
[Atualizada às 14:56]