Emmanuel Macron: “Today’s Europe owes a lot to the courage of the April Captains” | April 25

The French President, Emmanuel Macron, praised this Wednesday the importance of the 25th of April revolution in the European democratic path, recalling that “today’s Europe owes a lot” to the courage of the then young captains of April.

“Tomorrow (Thursday), we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution. I would like to join our friends in Portugal, the Portuguese in France and all our compatriots of Portuguese origin to celebrate this anniversary, which is so important for democracy in Europe”, said the French head of state in a video released on the occasion of the 50 years of April 25th.

In the same message, the French President did not forget the young captains of April who “expressed the hope of an entire people in peace and democracy”. “They were not even thirty years old and they were already heroes. Today’s Europe owes a lot to his courage”, says Macron.

“50 years ago, it vibrated on Portuguese radio Grândola, Vila Morena, the sign of the insurrection, which continued to be sung, beyond 1974, beyond Portugal, as an anthem of freedom. Some still remember that this magnificent song by Zeca Afonso was recorded in France, in 1971, at Château d’Hérouville, and our country is honored to have given him asylum”, says Macron.

For the French head of state, the friendship between Portugal and France is reinforced to this day by the flow of citizens, since the dictatorship when many Portuguese sought a better life in France and to this day live between the two countries.

“France is proud to have welcomed into its territory hundreds of thousands of Portuguese men and women in the 50s and 60s, exiled by poverty, the systematic violation of their rights, arbitrary and cruel political repression, and for refusing to participate in this system and in these unjust wars”, said the French President.

Currently, the two countries share “secular ties”, prepare the future of the European Union and defend the causes that determine the future, sharing “the same vision of a free, democratic and fair world”, defended the French President.

“We owe it to the memory of the captains of April and to the Portuguese people who, fifty years ago, stood up against injustice and poverty and won the admiration of France, Europe and the world with a red carnation in their hand,” said Macron , ending his message with “April 25th, always! Long live Portugal! Thank you to Portugal!”

In the video, Macron also listed some Portuguese personalities who fought for democracy. “I think of the “three Marias”, Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Teresa Horta and Maria Velho da Costa, whose fight for the rights of Portuguese women under the dictatorship received immense support throughout the world, and in particular in France, and who in a certain way way they announced the 25th of April. I think of Mário Soares, Álvaro Cunhal and Emídio Guerreiro, who traveled to Lisbon and Porto in the days following the revolution, coming from France, where they had taken refuge”.