“The objective is to continue to place Portugal as a hub for geopolitical discussions”

Europe after the war in Ukraine, relations between Muslims and Jews in light of the conflict in the Middle East, as well as tension in the Indo-Pacific region are three of the topics that will be debated in the IV edition of Mafra Dialogues: Strategic Dialogues and Diplomacy da Paz, an initiative of the Institute for the Promotion of Latin America and the Caribbean (IPDAL) and the Mafra City Council.

“The objective of the Mafra Dialogues is to continue to place Portugal as a hub for discussions on geopolitics, International Relations and diplomacy”, the secretary general of IPDAL, Gastón Ocampo, told DN. “And even though the name says that we are an institute that works in Latin America and the Caribbean, IPDAL continues its geographic expansion, also growing in impact”, he added.

“Portugal, historically, has done a great job in mediating conflicts, in being a bridge between different continents, namely Europe and Latin America, Europe and Africa and Europe and the Middle East. This hub that Portugal continues to be and that continues to develop in terms of importance and relevance, is something that IPDAL identified as the main objective for this type of initiatives”, he summarized.

The agenda of the IV edition of the Mafra Dialogues, which takes place in the South Tower of the Royal Building of Mafra, covers the current conflicts in the world, with several interventions by Ukrainian representatives – including the closing with Igor Ivanovych Zhovkva, deputy chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky – and a panel on Muslim-Jewish relations in light of the recent conflict.

“What is happening in the world is very worrying. The situation in the Middle East, in Europe, where we have a war for the first time in many years, when many experts thought it was impossible”, explained Ocampo. “It is very important that we can discuss ways in which diplomacy and dialogue can achieve longer-lasting solutions than armed conflict and violence.”

But the Mafra Dialogues also focus on what is believed to be the next hotbed of conflict, the Indo-Pacific, with one of the panels featuring the participation of a research fellow from the Taiwan Defense and National Security Research Institute , Domingo I-Kwei Yang.

Without forgetting IPDAL’s Latin American focus, another of the panels addresses the Challenges and lessons learned in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the intervention, among others, of the Colombian ambassador to Portugal, José Fernando Bautista. Another point of conversation will be interreligious dialogue and the role it can play in achieving peace, using Africa as an example.

“Motivated by the urgent need to generate collective responses to the uncertainties of the present and the future, and inspired by the symbolic 75th anniversary of the UN, IPDAL assumed the duty of contributing to a reflection that allows reaffirming the centrality of diplomacy and multilateral organizations in the current context of geopolitical reconfiguration”, indicated the organization, “The world needs, more than ever, multilateralism. Mediation and conflict prevention. Of Strategic Dialogues and Peace Diplomacy”, he insists.

Mafra hosts these debates for the fourth time, with Ocampo considering that the Real Edifício is the “ideal place to discuss” these topics, as it brings together the Government, Armed Forces and Church.

“The building commissioned by King D. João V, in the 18th century, is the materialization of the knowledge and technique of the best masters of various nationalities, therefore, considering its universality, it is the space of excellence to host Mafra Dialogues” , the president of Mafra City Council, Hélder Sousa Silva, told DN, who also considers this event an opportunity to give tourist-cultural visibility to the complex distinguished as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2019.

For the mayor, this conference constitutes “an opportunity” to position his municipality “on the itinerary of major events that, bringing together influential personalities and global organizations, aim to contribute to promoting debate on threats to international peace and to the presentation of proposals that keep Humanity on the path to finding peaceful solutions.”

“Faced with the growing emergence of new risks on a global scale, it is hoped that Mafra Dialogues can respond to the urgency of the debate, both through the quality of the interventions and also through public support”, added the mayor, remembering that, like the previous years, “the event will not only take place in person, but will also be broadcast live online, with simultaneous translation, so that, from anywhere in the world, citizens can take advantage of this exercise of reflection, which each increasingly participated.”

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