The Place of Lusophone Countries in the Foreign Policy of Portugal

Petrović Rajko (Naučni saradnik, Institut za evropske studije), rajko.petrovic@ies.rs

The research subject of this paper is the position of Lusophone countries in Portugal\'s foreign policy, i.e., the countries of former Portuguese colonies where Portuguese is still used as an official language. The goal of the research is to prove the initial general hypothesis that, despite being fully integrated into the system of the so-called collective West through membership in NATO and the European Union, Portugal is also interested in political, diplomatic, economic, and any other kind of cooperation with Lusophone countries in South America, Africa, and Asia. The research results unequivocally show that there is a continuous interest of both sides in strengthening mutual ties and cooperation on numerous issues, despite the existing geographical distance and certain historically conditioned animosities. The conclusion is that Portugal is important for other Lusophone countries as a country that represents a bridge between them and Europe, while they are important for Portugal as markets and political allies on the international level, considering that within the European Union and the collective West in general, Portugal still represents a “periphery country”. In our research, we used the historical method, the analysis method, and the comparative analysis method.

Keywords: Portugal, Lusophone countries, politics, economy, culture