It was domestic matters first when President Barack Obama flew into Lisbon for what is proving to be one of the most crucial NATO summits in the alliance's entire 61-year history.
Obama's first private meeting yesterday was with Portugal's president, Anibal Cavaco Silva, who told a press conference afterwards that the level of US investment in this country was "far from what you would expect." Obama was standing right next to Cavaco Silva at the time, but he didn't flinch at the apparent dig.
“We've come to Lisbon again to revitalize the NATO alliance for the 21st century and to strengthen the partnership between the United States and the European Union," was the main thrust of Obama's reply.
His next private meeting was with Prime Minister José Sócrates. Again the focused was on finance. The US president said America would work with Portugal and Europe to address the current crisis.
"Portugal is working through challenges created by some of the financial markets and I think that it's important to note that the prime minister has committed himself to a very, very vigorous package of economic steps," Obama told reporters.
He said Portugal and the United States had common economic problems. Jobs and economic benefits were the "highest priority for both our countries.”
During the main business of the day, the 28 NATO leaders approved a new alliance strategy for the next 10 years. Hopefully that has sorted out such matters as the prospect of ballistic missile attacks from rogue states and the onset of all-out cyber warfare.
And so to dinner consisting of Spinach Crepes, Medallions of Veal with Serra Cheese, and Priscos Abbot Pudding, helped along with Burmester red and white, and perhaps even a little vintage Port or two.
That just leaves discussion today with a keynote address by Afghan President Hamid Karzai on ending NATO's involvement in the war in Afghanistan by the an end of 2014.
Hopefully, clinking glasses of Portugese bubbly all-round at dinner tonight.
ALGARVE HOTWIRE
Strike expected to disrupt flights
The general strike called for next Wednesday to protest against austerity measures is expected to seriously disrupt many services, including activities at Faro and the other international airports in Portugal. Ryanair says the strike will cause flight delays and some cancellations for flights operating to and from Portuguese airports, as well as those that overfly Portugal. The national airline TAP has strongly recommended that passengers who were planning to fly next Wednesday rebook alternative dates.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Obama in Lisbon for crucial NATO meeting
President Barack Obama and other world leaders are gathering in Lisbon today for a 48-hour NATO meeting which has been billed as one of the most important in the history of the alliance.
Top of the agenda for the 28 member states are the war in Afghanistan and plans for a missile defence network in Europe.
Iran yesterday launched a war of words on NATO and tested a new air-defence system of its own. NATO has no future, declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“We regard NATO decision-makers as politically backward, and their decisions are of no significance to us, because they are incapable of playing a role in future developments,” said the Iranian leader. He added: “Experience shows that NATO leaders have had a wrong interpretation of international events and all their decisions are based on false information.”
All is not well within the alliance itself. Germany and France are at odds over nuclear disarmament and the proposed European ballistic missile shield.
On the other hand Russia's more relaxed relationship with the West is evident by the presence in Lisbon of the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev. President Obama is keen to ratify a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia.
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan will address the meeting tomorrow and is expected to say he wants NATO forces out of his country by the end of 2014.
INSIDE ALGARVE
José Mourinho's new goal: the Ryder Cup
The announcement that José Mourinho is to be an ambassador for Portugal's bid to host the Ryder Cup in 2018 will evoke a mixed reaction in the Algarve.
There will be delight that such a respected and well-known personality in the sports world is to throw his weight behind Portugal's Ryder Cup campaign, which already has the full backing of the Portuguese Government.
There will be wry smiles because Mourinho does not play golf. His formidable expertise on how to play football does not extend to how to control little white balls being knocked around the manicured countryside.
Most of all in some quarters will be the painful reminder that the chosen venue for Portugal's Ryder Cup bid is in the Alentejo, not the Algarve.
The plan is to bring the world's number one golf event to Herdade da Comporta,which is near Mourinho's home town of Setúbal. This could be interpreted as a backhander to the Algarve, famous for some of the finest golf courses in Europe, let alone Portugal.
The Algarve has hosted many major international golf tournaments including three World Championships.
There will also be mixed reaction in Spain, which is competing for the 2018 Ryder Cup along with France, Germany and Holland. Mourinho, former boss at Chelsea, is now the coach at Real Madrid.
"I always play to win and I know everyone connected to the 2018 Portuguese Ryder Cup bid is exactly the same," said Mourinho yesterday.
A decision will be announced next spring.
Top of the agenda for the 28 member states are the war in Afghanistan and plans for a missile defence network in Europe.
Iran yesterday launched a war of words on NATO and tested a new air-defence system of its own. NATO has no future, declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“We regard NATO decision-makers as politically backward, and their decisions are of no significance to us, because they are incapable of playing a role in future developments,” said the Iranian leader. He added: “Experience shows that NATO leaders have had a wrong interpretation of international events and all their decisions are based on false information.”
All is not well within the alliance itself. Germany and France are at odds over nuclear disarmament and the proposed European ballistic missile shield.
On the other hand Russia's more relaxed relationship with the West is evident by the presence in Lisbon of the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev. President Obama is keen to ratify a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia.
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan will address the meeting tomorrow and is expected to say he wants NATO forces out of his country by the end of 2014.
INSIDE ALGARVE
José Mourinho's new goal: the Ryder Cup
The announcement that José Mourinho is to be an ambassador for Portugal's bid to host the Ryder Cup in 2018 will evoke a mixed reaction in the Algarve.
There will be delight that such a respected and well-known personality in the sports world is to throw his weight behind Portugal's Ryder Cup campaign, which already has the full backing of the Portuguese Government.
There will be wry smiles because Mourinho does not play golf. His formidable expertise on how to play football does not extend to how to control little white balls being knocked around the manicured countryside.
Most of all in some quarters will be the painful reminder that the chosen venue for Portugal's Ryder Cup bid is in the Alentejo, not the Algarve.
The plan is to bring the world's number one golf event to Herdade da Comporta,which is near Mourinho's home town of Setúbal. This could be interpreted as a backhander to the Algarve, famous for some of the finest golf courses in Europe, let alone Portugal.
The Algarve has hosted many major international golf tournaments including three World Championships.
There will also be mixed reaction in Spain, which is competing for the 2018 Ryder Cup along with France, Germany and Holland. Mourinho, former boss at Chelsea, is now the coach at Real Madrid.
"I always play to win and I know everyone connected to the 2018 Portuguese Ryder Cup bid is exactly the same," said Mourinho yesterday.
A decision will be announced next spring.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
PORTUGAL TODAY
Portugal's revenge over old rivals Spain
Forget the debt crisis engulfing Portugal and the rest of Euope. Forget preparations for the arrival in Lisbon tomorrow of President Obama for bilateral discussions and a meeting of NATO. The number one topic of conversation in the nation today is football and Portugal's 4-0 thrashing of world champions Spain last night.
Victory was all the sweeter for Portugal because they inflicted Spain's biggest defeat in 47 years. Spain had not suffered such humiliation since they were beaten 6-2 by Scotland back in 1963.
The game in Lisbon's Estadio da Luz provided Portugal with an element of revenge because it was Spain who put them out of last year's world cup.
For all the long-standing rivalry between the Iberian neighbours on and off the pitch, one of the aims of last night's friendly was to promote their joint bid to host the World Cup in 2018.
Portugal's revenge over old rivals Spain
Forget the debt crisis engulfing Portugal and the rest of Euope. Forget preparations for the arrival in Lisbon tomorrow of President Obama for bilateral discussions and a meeting of NATO. The number one topic of conversation in the nation today is football and Portugal's 4-0 thrashing of world champions Spain last night.
Victory was all the sweeter for Portugal because they inflicted Spain's biggest defeat in 47 years. Spain had not suffered such humiliation since they were beaten 6-2 by Scotland back in 1963.
The game in Lisbon's Estadio da Luz provided Portugal with an element of revenge because it was Spain who put them out of last year's world cup.
For all the long-standing rivalry between the Iberian neighbours on and off the pitch, one of the aims of last night's friendly was to promote their joint bid to host the World Cup in 2018.
ALGARVE HOTLINE
Highway robbery
Several people have recently reported falling victim to thieves posing as travelling visitors in need of help to find their way.
The modus operandi has variations but it goes something like this. The thieves spot a woman placing her handbag in her car parked outside a supermarket.
A couple approach the woman and distract her before she gets into the car, or entice her out of it, by asking for directions to the A2 motorway, Spain or some other destination.
The couple produce a map and fully engage the woman's attention on details. Thus distracted, the women does not notice another member of the gang nicking her handbag.
By the time the woman gets into her car to drive off, the thieves have disappeared.
One woman recently fell into the trap outside the Aldi supermarket at Armação de Pera. She lost her passport, credit cards, mobile phone and all her remaining holiday cash the day before her flight home to London.
After she had her mobile blocked, the itemised bill from the phone company in England showed that the last six calls made were to Romania, four of them to the same number. She informed the Armação police.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
PORTUGAL TODAY
The debt bailout dilemma: is Portugal next?
Analysts seem agreed that Portugal is at risk from the 'contagious' or 'domino' effects of Ireland's continued refusal to even discuss a bailout agreement with the EU.
An EU rescue plan for Ireland and Portugal would end current market tension and avert contagion, some economists have been saying for more than a week now. But Ireland has dug its heels in.
Suffering from chronically low growth and a high deficit, Portugal is regarded as Europe's third most vulnerable economy after Greece and Ireland.
Coming austerity measures contained in the 2011 budget include a 5% cut in civil servants' wages and a rise in value-added tax from 21% to 23%. But the tough new austerity meaures may push Portugal back into recession next year.
Many economists say that the Government's prediction of 0.2% growth in 2011 is overly optimistic. This leads to another question: if the Government can't get the economy growing, how is it going to tackle its debt, which is currently running at 82% of gross domestic product?
ALGARVE GRAPEVINE
William whooping it up on the west coast
Prince William's engagement to his long-time girlfriend raises the spectre of
a royal stag party in the Algarve next year.
The second-in-line to the British throne last visited these shores in 2005. He quietly slipped in incognito and without his girlfriend to whoop it up prior to the marriage of one of his chums.
The all-male group stayed in a nicely tucked-away B&B in the countryside next to the west coast. They spent much time surfing on a popular beach. Even a night out in the bars of Lagos went almost unnoticed.
Will he choose the same venue for his own stag party? A repeat laid-back visit prior to what is already being heralded as the wedding of the century? No way, unless the Portuguese Government is willing to mount the kind of massive security operation that will be in place when President Obama and the rest of the NATO leaders meet in Lisbon this weekend.
The debt bailout dilemma: is Portugal next?
Analysts seem agreed that Portugal is at risk from the 'contagious' or 'domino' effects of Ireland's continued refusal to even discuss a bailout agreement with the EU.
An EU rescue plan for Ireland and Portugal would end current market tension and avert contagion, some economists have been saying for more than a week now. But Ireland has dug its heels in.
Suffering from chronically low growth and a high deficit, Portugal is regarded as Europe's third most vulnerable economy after Greece and Ireland.
Coming austerity measures contained in the 2011 budget include a 5% cut in civil servants' wages and a rise in value-added tax from 21% to 23%. But the tough new austerity meaures may push Portugal back into recession next year.
Many economists say that the Government's prediction of 0.2% growth in 2011 is overly optimistic. This leads to another question: if the Government can't get the economy growing, how is it going to tackle its debt, which is currently running at 82% of gross domestic product?
ALGARVE GRAPEVINE
William whooping it up on the west coast
Prince William's engagement to his long-time girlfriend raises the spectre of
a royal stag party in the Algarve next year.
The second-in-line to the British throne last visited these shores in 2005. He quietly slipped in incognito and without his girlfriend to whoop it up prior to the marriage of one of his chums.
The all-male group stayed in a nicely tucked-away B&B in the countryside next to the west coast. They spent much time surfing on a popular beach. Even a night out in the bars of Lagos went almost unnoticed.
Will he choose the same venue for his own stag party? A repeat laid-back visit prior to what is already being heralded as the wedding of the century? No way, unless the Portuguese Government is willing to mount the kind of massive security operation that will be in place when President Obama and the rest of the NATO leaders meet in Lisbon this weekend.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
PORTUGAL TODAY:
Portugal caught up in 'contagious' debt crisis
Speculation is rife that Portugal will be forced to follow Ireland into seeking a rescue plan from the EU because of the spreading international debt crisis.
Portugal's Finance Minister,Teixeira dos Santos said that the situations in Ireland and Portugal were quite different. He was quoted in the Diário de Notícias as saying that Portugal had not approached Brussels, either formally or informally, to discuss special asistance.
According to the Daily Telegraph EU authorities have begun to vent fury against Ireland over its refusal to accept a financial rescue, fearing that the contagious crisis will engulf Portugal and Spain unless confidence is restored immediately to eurozone bond markets.
Portugal has struggled to achieve economic growth under the euro common currency system. It has been disclosed that Greece's economic difficulties are even worse than previously thought. Spain's economy is moribund.
“Stronger countries and weaker countries using the common currency of the euro are being pulled in different directions,” says the New York Times. “Some economists wonder if unity will hold or if some new system that allows countries to move on one of two parallel financial tracts is needed.”
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned: “If the euro fails, then Europe fails.”
Portugal caught up in 'contagious' debt crisis
Speculation is rife that Portugal will be forced to follow Ireland into seeking a rescue plan from the EU because of the spreading international debt crisis.
Portugal's Finance Minister,Teixeira dos Santos said that the situations in Ireland and Portugal were quite different. He was quoted in the Diário de Notícias as saying that Portugal had not approached Brussels, either formally or informally, to discuss special asistance.
According to the Daily Telegraph EU authorities have begun to vent fury against Ireland over its refusal to accept a financial rescue, fearing that the contagious crisis will engulf Portugal and Spain unless confidence is restored immediately to eurozone bond markets.
Portugal has struggled to achieve economic growth under the euro common currency system. It has been disclosed that Greece's economic difficulties are even worse than previously thought. Spain's economy is moribund.
“Stronger countries and weaker countries using the common currency of the euro are being pulled in different directions,” says the New York Times. “Some economists wonder if unity will hold or if some new system that allows countries to move on one of two parallel financial tracts is needed.”
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned: “If the euro fails, then Europe fails.”
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