This Sunday, the President of the Republic addressed his predecessor Jorge Sampaio, two years after his death, also on the occasion of the next meeting of the Arraiolos Group, an initiative launched by the former head of state.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa published a note on the official website of the President of the Republic on the Internet in which he remembers Jorge Sampaio “on the second anniversary of his passing, September 10, 2021, and when the preparations for the meeting of the Arraiolos Group are completed.” ended in Porto on October 5 and 6 with the participation of 16 heads of state.”
“The President of the Republic recalls President Jorge Sampaio, who created this group 20 years ago in this place of Alentejo, thereby promoting and strengthening dialogue at the highest level between European leaders, and who left us with an indelible memory and memory of outstanding dedication to public affairs and the highest teaching profession in Portugal,” the note says.
Former President of the Republic Jorge Sampaio died on September 10, 2021 at the age of 81.
When Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa paid tribute to him at the funeral ceremonies, which took place in the monastery of the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon, he described Jorge Sampaio as a man who “loved Portugal for its fragility” and “not for its strength” and who “never wanted to be a hero, but was.”
Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio, born in Lisbon on September 18, 1939, died at the Santa Cruz Hospital in the municipality of Oeiras, Lisbon district, where he had been hospitalized since August 27, 2021, due to difficulty breathing.
Jorge Sampaio was one of the protagonists of the academic crisis of the early 1960s that gave rise to a long and widespread student protest movement against the Estado Novo, and as a lawyer he defended political prisoners during the dictatorship.
After 25 April 1974, he was Secretary General of the PS (1989–1992), President of the Lisbon City Council (1990–1995) and President of the Republic (1996 and 2006).
As President of the Republic in 2003, he initiated a meeting in the city of Arraiolos in the Alentejo to discuss the future of the European Union with a group of heads of state with powers similar to his, but without executive functions. Since then, informal meetings of the so-called Arraiolos group have been held annually.
After serving as President of the Republic, Sampaio was appointed in 2006 as the Special Envoy of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General for the fight against tuberculosis, and between 2007 and 2013 he was the UN High Representative to the Alliance of Civilization.
He led the Global Platform for Emergency Academic Assistance for Syrian Students, which he founded in 2013 to help respond to the academic emergency caused by the conflict in Syria, which has left thousands of young people without access to education.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.