Estonian-Portuguese relations

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Estonian-Portuguese relations
Location of Estonia and Portugal
EstoniaEstonia PortugalPortugal
Estonia Portugal

The Estonian-Portuguese relations include bilateral relations between Estonia and Portugal . The countries entered into diplomatic relations for the first time after Estonian independence in 1918, and these have continued uninterrupted since Estonia's independence was restored in 1991.

The relationships are considered friendly and problem-free. Joint membership in the EU and NATO are the most important connecting elements, and Estonia and Portugal are partners and others. a. in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development , in the Council of Europe , in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and in the European Space Agency . You both belong to the euro zone and the Schengen area .

Historically, the permanent Portuguese non-recognition of the Soviet annexation of Estonia from 1940 onwards was a major factor in the friendly relations. In addition to the political relations and joint NATO maneuvers in the Baltic States, the growing trade relations and the diverse cultural exchange are essential connecting points between the two lake nations. Even the great distance between the two countries occasionally serves as a link. The EU's easternmost lighthouse is in Estonia ( Narva-Jõesuu lighthouse ), and the westernmost in Portugal ( Farol do Albarnaz on the Azores island of Flores ). An exhibition entitled “Estonia as a Maritime Country: Estonian Lighthouses” was opened in May 2013 by Estonia's ambassador to Portugal, Marin Mõttus , in Ponta Delgada , the capital of the Azores .

history

From 1918 to 1991

Pro-Soviet rally on July 17, 1940 in Tallinn after the sham election and the subsequent annexation to the Soviet Union: Portugal did not recognize the incorporation of Estonia into the Soviet Union until its end in 1991

Estonia first gained independence in 1918. The Portuguese Republic , proclaimed in 1910 , de facto recognized the Republic of Estonia on February 3, 1918 . In connection with Estonia joining the League of Nations in 1921, Portugal also recognized the Republic of Estonia de jure on February 3, 1921.

After the annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940, relations were determined by Portuguese-Soviet relations .

The semi-fascist, strongly anti - communist Salazar regime of Portugal did not recognize this annexation. Even after the Carnation Revolution in 1974 and the subsequent end of its anti-communist Estado Novo regime, Portugal never officially recognized Estonia's membership of the Soviet Union. In 1987, when Portuguese parliamentarians visited the Soviet Union , the conservative Portuguese Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva forbade MPs to visit Estonia.

2017 EU meeting in Estonia: particularly since Estonia joined the EU in 2004, Estonia and Portugal have been partners in a large number of multilateral organizations

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia declared its full independence again in the same year. Since Portugal had never recognized Estonia's membership of the Soviet Union, it recognized the renewal of Estonian independence by means of a simple declaration on August 27, 1991.

Since 1991

On October 1, 1991, the two countries established diplomatic relations. Jorge Alberto Lemos Godinho , Portugal's ambassador to Finland, received double accreditation on March 4, 1993 as the first Portuguese ambassador to Tallinn. Andres Tomasberg , head of the newly opened Estonian embassy in Lisbon since 1996, was the first Estonian ambassador to Portugal to be accredited to Portugal's President Jorge Sampaio in 1997 .

In the course of Estonia's subsequent rapprochement with the EU, to which Portugal has been a member since 1986, and with the western defense alliance NATO, which Portugal co-founded in 1949, Portugal and Estonia also grew closer. They concluded a bilateral agreement in the tourism sector in Lisbon on May 10, 2000, which was followed there on May 21, 2001 by a bilateral agreement on the transport of people and goods.

Meeting of the Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser and his Portuguese counterpart Augusto Santos Silva on January 22, 2018 in Tallinn: the relations are considered friendly and problem-free

In Tallinn on December 12, 2003, both countries signed an extensive bilateral cooperation agreement in the areas of language, education, culture, science and technology, as well as cooperation in the areas of youth, sport and the media. A double taxation agreement and agreements to prevent tax evasion were also adopted.

In 2005, Portugal also opened its own embassy in Tallinn. In the wake of the rigid and comprehensive austerity policy in Portugal after the euro crisis , which plunged the country into a deep economic crisis from 2010, Portugal closed its embassy in Estonia again in 2012, which has since again belonged to the administrative district of the Portuguese ambassador to Finland.

In spite of this, bilateral relations continue to intensify, which is also reflected in regular mutual state visits. The Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid last visited Portugal in April 2019, Estonia's Prime Minister Jüri Ratas last visited Portugal in 2017. José Sócrates was the last Portuguese head of government to visit Estonia at the end of 2007. A large number of mutual visits at ministerial and state secretary level are also taking place (as of July 2019).

The Portuguese Embassy in Tallinn. It was closed in 2012 as part of Portugal's austerity policy after the euro crisis

diplomacy

Estonia has an embassy in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon . Estonian consulates have not been set up in Portugal.

Portugal has not had its own embassy in Estonia since 2012, which has since been part of the administrative district of the Portuguese ambassador in the Finnish capital Helsinki . Portugal has also not opened consulates in Estonia (as of 2018).

Town twinning

After Estonia joined the EU in 2004, the Estonian Haapsalu and the Portuguese Fundão formed the first Estonian-Portuguese city ​​friendship . As part of the European initiatives Douzelage and European Charter - Villages of Europe , two more were added in the same year.

migration

228 Estonians were registered in Portugal in 2018, most of them in the greater Lisbon area (108) and in the Algarve (38). The total of their remittance was 450,000 euros.

In the same year, 204 Portuguese citizens were registered in Estonia. They transferred 60,000 euros back.

economy

Transport train from the Autoeuropa factory : Vehicles and vehicle parts are Portugal's most important single export goods to Estonia

The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP does not have a branch in Estonia; the AICEP contact office at the Finnish Embassy of Portugal in Helsinki is responsible.

In 2016, 481 Portuguese companies were trading with Estonia ./>

In 2016, Estonia imported goods worth 23.0 million euros from Portugal ( 2015 : 20.9 million, 2014 : 28.5 million, 2013 : 29.2 million, 2012 : 23.2 million). ), of which 13.6% vehicles and vehicle parts, 12.0% machines and devices, 9.5% metal goods, 9.2% textiles, 8.3% plastics and rubber, and 7.8% paper and cellulose.

During the same period, Portugal imported goods worth 24.7 million euros from Estonia ( 2015 : 23.2 million, 2014 : 16.0 million, 2013 : 19.6 million, 2012 : 13.4 million) , thereof 16.4% wood and cork, 15.5% metal goods, 12.3% machines and devices, 8.7% food, 7.5% chemical-pharmaceutical products, and 7.1% agricultural products.

In Portugal's foreign trade, Estonia was 73rd as a buyer and 76th as a supplier. In Estonian foreign trade, Portugal ranked 56th as a buyer and 46th as a supplier.

Culture

Institutions and language

The Portuguese national cultural institute Instituto Camões maintains u. a. a language center and lecturer at Tallinn University and a language center at Tartu University . The Estonian counterpart, Eesti Instituut, has no representation in Portugal, but the Estonian embassy still organizes, initiates or promotes cultural activities such as exhibitions, concerts and collaborations in Portugal.

Portuguese universities are very popular with Estonian students within the Erasmus program . Thanks to the cooperation agreement concluded in 2006 with the Instituto Camões, Estonian students from the two universities of Tartu and Tallinn can also receive scholarships for language studies in Portugal.

In 2007 the first Estonian - Portuguese dictionary was published.

In 2002, a culturally oriented friendship society was founded with the Lisbon Estonia Society .

Exhibitions, music

An unmanageable number of exhibitions by Estonian and Portuguese artists continue to take place in the other country, partly also in joint shows, for example the exhibition “Border City” by 17 Estonian and 17 Portuguese jeweler artists in the city gallery of Tallinn in 2011 and at the Instituto Camões in Lisbon 2012.

On New Year's Eve 2016, the Orquestra Gulbenkian and the Gulbenkian Choir performed the work Te Deum by the Estonian Arvo Pärt in the magnificent São Roque Church in Lisbon. Musicians from Estonia also often perform alone or as part of projects in Portugal. These include the joint concert by chamber musicians from the Estonian Academy of Music and the Lisbon University of Music in Lisbon's Teatro Thalia in February 2018, on the 100th anniversary of Estonian independence in 1918.

Movie

On the 100th anniversary of Estonian independence, the country was the focus of the Monstra film festival in March 2018 in the Portuguese capital.

At the Estoril International Film Festival in November 2007, the jury awarded the Estonian director Veiko Õunpuu for Herbstball ( Sügisball ). The film hit cinemas in Portugal in July 2008, where it ran for six weeks. At the Estoril Film Festival in November 2008, another director from Estonia, Kersti Uibo, was honored, where his film Vaikelu naisega received an honorable mention.

In 2011, the play Purgatory, based on Sofi Oksanen's drama, was performed for the first time in Portugal at the Teatro Alberto in Lisbon.

literature

Works of Estonian literature that have been fully translated into Portuguese are Keisri hull by Jaan Kross and Mäeküla piimamees by Eduard Vilde , followed in 2016 by the translation of your novel Purgatory by Sofi Oksanen .

A number of works have already been translated from Portuguese literature into Estonian, including Eça de Queiroz ( A Relíquia ), Fernando Pessoa (especially his poetry), Fernando Namora (the novel Sunday Afternoon ) and José Saramago (the novel The City of the Blind ).

In May 2012, the Estonian poet Kristiina Ehin visited Lisbon, where she recited poems in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and Portuguese translations of her works were performed by the actor João d'Avila (translations by Eva Toulouse).

Sports

Portugal's André Gomes and Estonia's Karl-Eerik Luigend in a duel at the U-19 European Championship 2012 in Estonia: in the youth field, the national soccer teams of both countries have already met more often

The Estonian national soccer team and the Portuguese men's national team have played against each other eight times so far (as of July 2019). They met for the first time on September 5, 1993 in Tallinn, the qualifying game for the 1994 World Cup ended 2-0 for Portugal. Portugal won a total of seven encounters, once they were drawn. Estonia was not represented at the 2004 European Championship in Portugal.

Estonian players rarely play for Portuguese clubs, including international Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko , who played for União Leiria in 2010/11 .

The Estonian women's national soccer team and the Portuguese women's national team have not yet met. The Estonians have not yet been represented at the Portuguese Algarve Cup (as of July 2019).

Web links

Commons : Estonian-Portuguese Relations  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Website on Estonian-Portuguese relations in the diplomatic portal of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs , accessed on August 4, 2019
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Overview of Estonian-Portuguese relations on the website of the Estonian Embassy in Lisbon, accessed on August 4, 2019
  3. ↑ Notes on bilateral relations between Estonia and Portugal from the Estonian Embassy in Lisbon, accessed on August 4, 2019
  4. ↑ Overview of Estonian-Portuguese relations at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accessed on August 4, 2019
  5. ↑ Overview of Estonian-Portuguese relations at the Diplomatic Institute in the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs , accessed on August 4, 2019
  6. ↑ List of foreign citizens in Portugal (by district) at the Portuguese Immigration Office Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras, accessed on August 4, 2019
  7. ↑ a b Website on Estonian-Portuguese migration at the Portuguese Scientific Observatório da Emigração , accessed on August 4, 2019
  8. ↑ a b c d Overview of Portugal's economic relations with Estonia , PDF download from the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP, accessed on August 4, 2019
  9. ^ Website of the Instituto Camões on the activities in Estonia , accessed on August 4, 2019
  10. ↑ a b c d Information on Estonian-Portuguese cultural exchange in the overview of Estonian-Portuguese relations, Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accessed on August 4, 2019