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 hundreds of thousands of Portuguese men and women into its territory in the 1950s and 1960s, exiled by poverty and the systematic violation of their rights.