The governments of Portugal and Spain welcomed today, in a joint statement, the entry into force of the new treaty, which replaces the first signed between Lisbon and Madrid, in 1977, when Mário Soares and Adolfo Suaréz led the Iberian executives.
The Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation" affirms the shared values and updates the instruments of cooperation in the most varied areas, both bilateral, including privileged cross-border relations".
For the governments of Lisbon and Madrid, the previous treaty, from 1977, played "a fundamental role in the parallel development of Spain and Portugal as democracies", in an "essential moment of democratic transition" in both countries, having contributed to the development of relations whether political, commercial or cultural.
Lisbon and Madrid justify the need for a new treaty because during the 40 years that the 1977 treaty was in force, Spain and Portugal became consolidated democracies, became members of the European Union, are allies in NATO (with the entry of Spain in this Defense alliance between European and North American countries of which Portugal was already a member) and are partners in the Ibero-American community.
In The Portugal News