Indeed, it is a grave sin not to have seen how European Union membership changes a country, and it is a grave sin not to have observed the experience of a small but well-connected country in influencing the general policies of the union and projecting its own vision of international relations and global issues onto the world through the union. Portugal is not the best example for Turkey to study in order to map its membership negotiation strategy, but it is an excellent example to see what can be done after that membership is achieved.Cavaco Silva’s name is identified with the EU revolution in Portugal. He was the prime minister of the country during the last year of the accession negotiations and remained in that post for nine years following the accession. He ran for presidency of the country in 1995, but the Social Democrats were then already losing public support, and the charismatic mayor of Lisbon, Jorge Sampaio, won the presidential elections by a clear margin. Cavaco Silva turned to his academic studies as a professor of fiscal policy and waited for Sampaio to finish his constitutional two-term limit. He was elected president of the country in 2005 as the joint candidate of the Social Democratic Party and the People’s Party.
Under Cavaco Silva, Portugal managed to project its advantages as a bridging country onto its position in the EU. Portugal’s experience as a small country with strong overseas relations in Africa, Latin America and the Far East in presenting the EU an added value by means of increasing the strength of the union in global affairs says clearly that Turkey’s claims that it would help the union become a global player are not baseless. Portugal is very much like Turkey in the sense that it builds bridges between continents, cultures and religions. Whereas Turkey has special relations with countries established on former Ottoman land, Portugal has special relations with its former colonies. Whereas Turkey has the advantage of reaching a vast Turkic-speaking geography in Central Asia and the Caucasus, Portugal has the same advantage by means of reaching a vast Portuguese-speaking country, Brazil. Whereas Turkey has been elevating its international stance through its mediating and peacemaking efforts in the geographies in conflict around it, Portugal has achieved the same fame through its role in mediating in Mozambique, Angola and East Timor. Turkey has its Cyprus problem and Portugal had the Macao issue with China. Under Cavaco Silva, Portugal reached an agreement with China, delivering the sovereignty of the region to China while protecting a high degree of autonomy for Macao: maintaining its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, immigration policy and delegates to international organizations and events. The similarities are almost countless.
Portugal had a very tough negotiation process for its accession to the EU, yet it has become a leading player in shaping the union’s foreign policy. Portugal is a small country with an aging population barely over 10 million people. Turkey is a large country with a young population of more than 70 million people. This says a lot about what Turkey can add to the international policy leverage of the EU.
Cavaco Silva is aware of Turkey’s potential. His country has always been supportive of Turkey’s EU membership. During my short stay in Lisbon, I sensed the excitement of the officials of the Presidency, nurtured by the fact that President Cavaco Silva would speak in the Turkish Parliament, at the very pulpit where President Barack Obama recently spoke.
It is a grave sin for a Turk not to have realized how seriously this country is taken in the capitals of the world. Ambassador Lameiras saved me from this sin.
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