As Prime Minister of Portugal, as well as an ordinary person, it is an honour to address the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation that has decided to present the 2002 Sousa Mendes Award at the National Foreign Service Institute.
My special congratulations go to the award winners, historian José Ignacio García Hamilton and journalist Nicholas John Tozer.
Sousa Mendes’ example has a very special significance for us, in our country. That is why, during my term as Foreign Affairs Minister a few years ago, the Portuguese Diplomatic Association also created an award perpetuating his name.
In both cases the objective is the same: to pay homage to someone who has left us a legacy and example of courage and that today is rightly considered to be a symbol of the defence of humanitarian values.
Jose Manuel Durao Barroso
Prime Minister of Portugal
