Ambassador of Portugal João Pinheiro Chagas at the plenary session: “These countries ask the League to keep them alive by accepting them; rejecting this request on the pretext that it may jeopardise their existence feels like giving them the death sentence.”

Source: “Diary of an Ambassador, Part 1”, Kaarel Robert Pusta, New York, Culture, 1964

Article of Honorary Vice-Consul Botelho about Estonia. Photo: Estonian National Archive

The newspaper Kaja wrote on 9 December 1930 that Jorge dos Santos came to Estonia in order to develop economic relations. The representative of Portugal visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he met with Foreign Minister Jaan Lattik, the Assistant Foreign Minister August Schmidt and the Head of the Political Department Dr Juhan Leppik. Later, he also visited the Contracts Office of the Ministry, where he show various materials and went to the Luther Factory to see its equipment.

The task assigned by the Portuguese Government to Jorge dos Santos was to get to know the Baltic States and their economies in order to launch economic relations between Portugal and the Baltic States if possible. “Apparently, Portugal intends to establish an embassy for the three Baltic States and it seems very likely that in the near future, we will be able to welcome Jorge dos Santos in Estonia as the plenipotentiary minister of Portugal. Jorge Dos Santos has served his country as a diplomat for 22 years by being a representative in Stockholm, an adviser in Tokyo, London and elsewhere. His last position was ambassador to South America, where he became the head of the Trade Department of the Foreign Ministry of Portugal, a position he’s still holding today. The President will hold a reception in honour of the guest at Kadriorg Palace today at 5 pm.”

The newspaper Järve Teataja wrote on 13 December 1930, quoting Jorge dos Santos: “”I would be very pleased if I could return as the minister to this country, which I’ll be leaving with the best of memories. Portugal will establish the embassy for all three Baltic States and the ambassador will reside alternately in the capital of each country.” Finally, the delegate emphasised that he wishes Estonia every success from the bottom of his heart.”

Read more:

• How the Foreign ministry and Embassies were eliminated but diplomats in the free world preserved the continuity of the Estonian state between 1940 and 1991

Decision of the government of the Estonian SSR to eliminate all embassies, consulates and honorary consulates of Estonia. Photo: Estonian National Archive

Sampaio: “The announcement of the Portuguese Government is inspired by purely legal considerations without any intent to harm the Baltic States. Since Portugal has not recognised the Soviet government and does not intend to do so in the future, we can no longer have any relationships with the Baltic States that have peacefully joined the Soviet Union, which is a state with whom we do not want to have any relations. You claim in your note that you joined as a result of violence and that your country occupied by the Soviet Army. However, we have not received any messages that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania put up any armed resistance against this conquest, there are only the protests of the diplomatic representatives of the Baltic States abroad. In addition to you, the representatives of Lithuania and Latvia have also come to the Portuguese Government to protest. We had planned to consult the consular representatives in our country, but when it became known that the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union accepted the request of the national assemblies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to join Russia, we no longer saw a reason to delay with the disclosure of our position. Between us, I can tell you that we asked London and Stockholm how Great Britain and Sweden felt about this issue before we made our decision. The information we received was that whilst these countries will continue recognising the diplomatic missions of the Baltic States, they will also recognise the fait accompli and have no intention of protesting against the actions of Moscow. These two countries have a completely different kind of relationship with the Baltic States as well as with Soviet Russia. It would be appropriate to assume that they will have relationships of interest with your countries also in the future. Portugal does not have any of these, apart from a few trade relations for which the trade agreements mentioned in the government’s announcement were signed. Latvia and Lithuania had accredited ambassadors to Portugal, who reside in France. Estonia has not accredited anyone to Portugal at all. But let this be a passing comment. The main point is that as the Baltic States are now part of Soviet Russia and we do not want to see any Soviet representations or Soviet citizens here, we had no other option but to sever all ties and close all representations. Our announcement says: for the duration of the present state of affairs. If it changes and the Baltic States achieve some kind of independence again, the announcement of 31 August will also be revised…”

Sampaio rejected all of the objections made by Pusta. Sampaio’s response to the suggestion that the honorary consulate of Estonia could continue working and Estonian citizens could stay in Portugal with their national passports was that the consulate must be deemed liquidated as of the date the announcement was published, which obviously does not mean that the honorary consul cannot take the time he needs to liquidate the consulate’s correspondence and make transfers of money, if any. The plan was to register the citizens of Estonia who were living in Portugal with their national passports in the Ministry of the Interior, which also had to decide their fate. However, if any of the former Estonian citizens relied on their new Soviet citizenship, they had to leave the country. The Estonians who wanted to travel further via Portugal and had been issued with entry visas by the countries of destination received transit visas in their national passports from the Portuguese consulate. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was always ready to consider any exceptional cases with good will. Sampaio reiterated that the decree of 31 August was in no way malevolent towards the Baltic States.

Source: “Diary of an Ambassador, Part 1”, Kaarel Robert Pusta, New York, Culture, 1964

Pusta then waited in Lisbon for a chance to travel to the US and said that “the capital of Portugal deserves praise for its beauty and conveniences”. Former Honorary Consul in Lissabon Karl Andersen arranged for Pusta to get to the US.

Source: “Diary of an Ambassador, Part 1”, Kaarel Robert Pusta, New York, Culture, 1964

• Source: Postimees 14.04.2007, https://maailm.postimees.ee/1650181/eesti-afaar-portugali-sisepoliitikas

Ambassador Godinho meets with Foreign Minister Trivimi Velliste at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the presentation of his credentials. Desk Office Meelike Palli is also present. Photo: Voldemar Maask, 4 March, 1993

“Accreditation took almost two months and the card of a diplomat residing in Lisbon was issued to me on 26 August 1997. Although our Ministry of Foreign Affairs had informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Portugal on 4 April 1997 with a note of the decision to establish an Estonian embassy in Lisbon and send a charge d’affaires ad interim there, we had to do it again with the respective note of the embassy in Paris. Firstly, the note sent in spring had been hopelessly lost and secondly, the Vienna Convention states that the appointment of a charge d’affaires ad interim must be organised from the embassy where the ambassador accredited to the respective country resides.

Andres Tomasberg, the ambassador in Paris, represented Estonia in Portugal. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Portugal gave its consent to the opening of the embassy on 28 July. The issue of the response note was partly also delayed because of the technical errors in the round of approval. When I called and asked about the response for the umpteenth time,

I was told that “everything is almost done, it’s just that the people in a department noticed that Eslovénia had been written in the approval document instead of Estónia and we had to redo the papers”.

These names were often confused, because they sound similar. (Slovenia had opened an embassy and dispatched a charge d’affaires ad interim about a year earlier.) Andres Tomasberg’s term of office ended in late 1997 and the next ambassador in Paris was not appointed to Lisbon. No ambassador was appointed at all, not from any city. So for a year and half, I was actually substituting for nobody. The Protocol Department of Portugal also pointed this out when I left in summer 1999, urging the Estonian Government “to ensure that international practices are followed” and to accredit a new ambassador when the new charge d’affaires is dispatched.

Raul Mälk, the Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was also appointed the ambassador in Lisbon on 28 October 1999. (…) To satisfy the curiosity of real estate brokers, I almost always had to tell them what kind of country Estonia is, where it’s situation and what language people speak there. Those who already knew this wanted to know more about life in the country and its history. The role of a female charge d’affaires ad interim, who seemed to be taking care of absolutely everything, seemed unprecedented to the service staff of real estate, water, electricity and telephone companies. I was usually regarded as some sort of administrator who was making preparations for setting up the embassy or as the ambassador’s wife who was helping her husband to fill her days. Time and again, I had to answer the question: “Is your husband a diplomat?” and many officials were seriously baffled when, after they advised me to “take these papers to the embassy, have them sealed and signed by the head of the mission”, I fished the seal out of my handbag, and sealed and signed the papers myself where necessary.

Source: “The Second Coming. Foreign Missions of Estonia after Restoration of Independence. Establishment of an Embassy in Lisbon”, Meelike Palli, Eeva Eek-Pajuste, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2003

• The agreement between the Government of the Republic of Estonia and the Government of the Portuguese Republic on international road transport of passengers and goods was entered into on 29 May 2001. It was signed by the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Estonia Toivo Jürgenson and the Minister for Social Security of the Portuguese Republic Eduardo Luís Barreto Ferro Rodrigues.
• The agreement between Estonia and Portugal on readmission of persons, which entered into force on 26 September 2003, was entered into on 12 November 2001 in Lisbon. It was signed by the Ambassador of Estonia to the Holy See Indrek Tarand and the Minister of Society João Rui de Almeida.

• Source: Eesti Päevaleht 07.02.2002, https://epl.delfi.ee/artikkel/50910652/eakas-eestlanna-t-337-lkis-laste-kalevipoja-portugali-keelde

“We’ve planned to bring something from Estonian folklore from Estonia to Portugal for our summer and autumn event and discussed the organisation of an art exhibition. One of the biggest events of our society would probably be the Midsummer Day celebration in the beautiful Serra da Estrela mountains on 21 June, where we’re are planning to follow old Estonian Midsummer customs and play traditional games, and certainly have a real bonfire in the evening. I believe that it will be interesting for Portuguese people to watch this and also join in.”

Source: Estonian World Review, 27. mai, 2003 https://www.eesti.ca/nadala-portree-intervjuu-lissaboni-eesti-seltsi-esimehe-rein-topperiga/article4329

Presidents and First Ladies. Photo: Archive of the Office of the President of Portugal

State visit of President Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio to Estonia. Photo: Estonian National Archive

President Sampaio meets with Juhan Parts. Photo: Estonian National Archive

Inauguration of Estonian Honorary Consulate in Tavira. Photo: Archives of Estonian Honorary Consulate in Tavira

President Rüütel on a state visit in Portugal. Photo: Archives of the Embassy

Ambassador of Estonia Mart Tarmak presented his credentials to President Aníbal António Cavaco Silva. Photo: Archive of the Office of the President of Portugal

Ambassador of Estonia Mart Tarmak presented his credentials to President Aníbal António Cavaco Silva. Photo: Archive of the Office of the President of Portugal

Ambassador Marin Mõttus. Photo: Archives of the Embassy

The opening reception was attended by the President of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira Tranquada Gomes, Regional Secretary for Tourism of Madeira Eduardo Jesus, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Madeira Cristina Pedra and Mayor of Funchal Paulo Cafôfo. It was followed by the opening of a photo exhibition about Estonia in the Funchal Municipal Theatre. The Honorary Consul of Estonia in Funchal Fernando Faria de Catanho was born in 1974 and speaks English and Spanish in addition to Portuguese. He graduated from the Autonomous University of Lisbon in the speciality of international business management and from the Lusíada University of Lisbon in the speciality of economics. The new honorary consul manages the real estate company Barreto, Fernando & Daniel and is active in the administration of the regional office of the Ministry of Justice.

• Source: https://digi.geenius.ee/rubriik/uudis/pipedrive-palkab-portugali-kontorisse-100-inimest

Chamber music concert in the Thalia Theatre in Lisbon. Photo: Archives of the Embassy

More information:

• https://www.err.ee/825027/portugal-ja-austraalia-uhinevad-nato-kuberkaitsekeskusega
• https://www.pealinn.ee/newset/portugal-uhines-nato-kuberkaitsekeskusega-tallinnas-n219712

Ambassador of Estonia Ruth Lausma Luik presented her credentials to the President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia

Embassy in Lisbon after renovation. Photo: Archives of the Embassy

Official dinner. Photo: Archives of the Embassy

Delegation. Photo: Archives of the Embassy

Presidents on the street. Photo: Archive of the Office of the President of Portugal

Presidents taking the tram and on the street. Photo: Archive of the Office of the President of Portugal

President Kaljulaid digitally signed the decision to appoint Jüri Ratas the candidate Prime Minister at the building of the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon. Photo: Archives of the Embassy

• Source: Postimees 26.09.2019 https://heureka.postimees.ee/6787619/antarktika-200-laevalogi-mis-uhendab-tallinna-ja-lissaboni

The book “Os Blumthal” by José Milhazes in Estonian and Portuguese. Photo: Archives of the Embassy