Iraqi-Portuguese relations

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Iraqi-Portuguese relations
Location of Iraq and Portugal
IraqIraq PortugalPortugal
Iraq Portugal

The Iraqi-Portuguese relations describe the intergovernmental relationship between Iraq and Portugal . The countries have had direct diplomatic relations since 1957.

Relations are determined by Portugal's involvement in the Iraq war and bilateral trade, which is dominated by Portuguese fuel imports from Iraq. Portugal has also taken in refugees from Iraq, who are among the 1,000 or so refugees that Portugal accepted under the 2015 agreement with the EU . Over 200 of them then left Portugal again (as of February 2017).

In addition, 126 Iraqi citizens were regularly registered in Portugal in 2015. Four Portuguese were registered in Iraq in 2008, not counting the Portuguese soldiers stationed there.

history

Basra in the 17th century
The heads of government of Portugal, Great Britain, the USA and Spain (from left), on March 26, 2003 in the Azores

From 1507 to 2001

Since 1507 the Portuguese controlled trade in the Persian Gulf , particularly through their possession of Hormuz . It remained the center of power for the Portuguese in the region until it fell back to Persia in 1622. After that, Portugal, weakened by the personal union with Spain, expanded its possession of Muscat to become its new center of power in the region, but at the same time tried to maintain additional trading centers. In Basra (Port. Baçorá ) on the Shatt al-Arab , a Portuguese trading post was established around 1631 .

On 22 May 1957 accredited to Luís Norton de Matos , the chief diplomat of Portugal in Turkey, the first Portuguese Ambassador to Iraq.

After the coup of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party and the shooting of President Qasim on February 8, 1963, diplomatic relations were interrupted. After resuming on March 25, 1975, Portugal opened its own embassy in Baghdad in 1976. It was closed in 1992 when diplomatic relations were broken again in the wake of the UN embargo on Iraq after the Second Gulf War . Diplomatic relations between the two countries have existed again since 2001, but Portugal has not reopened its embassy in Iraq (as of March 2017).

Since 2002

On March 16, 2003, at the invitation of the Portuguese Prime Minister Barroso, the US President George W. Bush , Spain's Prime Minister Aznar and the British Prime Minister Blair met at Lajes Air Base on the Portuguese Azores island of Terceira to carry out the military attack on Iraq to discuss. In Portugal, too, the majority of the population was against the intervention discussed. Nevertheless, the illegal Iraq war followed , in which Portugal was part of the coalition of the willing and with a contingent of soldiers in Iraq.

After the end of the Iraq war and the subsequent occupation of Iraq (2003–2011), around 30 Portuguese soldiers remained at the request of the Iraqi government, who from then on operated under the command of the Spanish contingent. In 2015 it became known that Portuguese soldiers were also threatened by the Islamic State after they showed photos from their location on their private Facebook pages. Some of those affected then asked to end their deployment in Iraq.

The 17-year-old twin sons of the Iraqi ambassador to Portugal caused a sensation in the Portuguese public when they beat up the Portuguese youth Rúben Cavaco in Ponte de Sor on August 17, 2016 . Cavaco was temporarily in a coma before he was able to leave the hospital in September 2016. Cavaco's parents complained, but criminal prosecution of the two perpetrators was not possible due to their diplomatic immunity . The case, which was widely covered by the media, aroused public displeasure, as Iraq failed to comply with the Portuguese government's request for the lifting of immunity, which had been made several times, and the proceedings therefore remained without hearing the perpetrators who had thus remained unpunished. Finally, both parties agreed on a settlement in January 2017 . The twins' father had already paid the treatment costs and now paid an unknown amount as a settlement to the victim's family. Iraq then ordered its ambassador back and promised the Portuguese government a criminal investigation into the case in Iraq.

diplomacy

Portugal does not have its own embassy in Iraq, which belongs to the administrative district of the Portuguese ambassador in Abu Dhabi . There is a Portuguese honorary consulate in Erbil .

Iraq has an embassy in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, at 9 Rua da Arriaga , in the municipality of Prazeres . Iraq does not have any consulates in Portugal beyond the embassy.

economy

Tankers in the Basra oil terminal: petroleum products are Iraq's most important export

The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP is not represented in Iraq, the AICEP office in Abu Dhabi is responsible.

In 2015, Portugal exported goods worth 8.9 million euros to Iraq (2014: 10.2 million; 2013: 12.1 million; 2012: 7.9 million; 2011: 3.9 million) ), thereof 28.6% chemical-pharmaceutical products, 24.1% food, 9.2% optical and precision instruments and 8.8% machines and devices.

In the same period, Iraq delivered goods worth 96.4 million euros to Portugal (2014: 135.3 million; 2013: 230.2 million; 2012: 176.0 million; 2011: 0.00), of which 98.2% fuel and 1.8% hides and leather.

In 2015, Iraq was ranked 103rd as a buyer and 50th as a supplier for Portuguese foreign trade, while Portugal was ranked 24th among buyers and 62nd among suppliers in Iraqi foreign trade.

Sports

The Iraqi national soccer team and the Portuguese men's selection have not yet played against each other (as of February 2017).

Occasionally Iraqi soccer players also play in Portugal, such as national player Osama Rashid , who initially signed with SC Farense and has played for CD Santa Clara in the Azores since 2017 , or Mohanad Ali , who has been under contract with Portimonense SC since 2020 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Overview of diplomatic relations with Iraq , diplomatic institute of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry , accessed on May 4, 2019
  2. ↑ Refugiados em fuga. Mais de 200 já saíram de Portugal ( Memento of the original from April 3, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. [“Refugees on the run. More than 200 have already left Portugal ”], article in the news portal Lusofonia.news , accessed on April 2, 2017  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lusofonia.news
  3. ↑ Sums of the number of Iraqis in the official alien statistics by district , Portuguese Immigration and Border Agency SEF, accessed on April 2, 2017
  4. ↑ Overview of Iraqi-Portuguese migration (Table A.3), accessed on April 2, 2017
  5. ↑ a b Militares portugueses no Iraque fecharam contas no Facebook por causa de ameaças do EI ["Portuguese soldiers closed their Facebook pages after threats from the Islamic State"], article from May 29, 2015 in the news portal Observador.pt , accessed on May 2 , 2015 April 2017
  6. ↑ Fernando Cristóvão (Ed.): Dicionário Temático da Lusofonia. Texto Editores, Lisbon / Luanda / Praia / Maputo 2006 ( ISBN 972-47-2935-4 ), p. 816
  7. ↑ Tony Blair e José Maria Aznar juntam-se a Durão nas Lajes ["Tony Blair and José Maria Aznar join Durão in Lajes"], article of March 16, 2003 in the Portuguese newspaper Público , accessed on April 2, 2017
  8. ↑ Portugueses manifestam-se contra a guerra no Iraque ["Portuguese demonstrate against the war in Iraq"], article of February 7, 2003 in the Portuguese newspaper Público , accessed on April 2, 2017
  9. ↑ Iraque retirou embaixadaor em Lisboa ["Iraq withdrew ambassador from Lisbon"], article from January 19, 2017 in the Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Notícias , accessed on April 11, 2017
  10. ↑ Filhos do embaixador do Iraque chegam a acordo com representantes legais de Rúben Cavaco ["Sons of the Iraqi ambassador achieve settlement with legal representatives of Rúben Cavaco"], article of January 13, 2017 of the public television station RTP , accessed on April 11, 2017
  11. ↑ List of Portuguese diplomatic missions abroad , website of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accessed on April 2, 2017
  12. ^ Website of the Iraqi embassy in Portugal (English and Arabic), accessed on April 2, 2017
  13. ↑ a b c Bilateral economic relations between Portugal and Iraq , Excel file retrieved from the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP, accessed on April 2, 2017
  14. ↑ see list of international matches of the Portuguese national soccer team # international match balance sheets