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The Embassy of Portugal in Berlin

Contact

Address: Zimmerstraße 56 - 7th floor, Berlin, D-10117

Tel:   (+49) 30 590063500
Fax: (+49) 30 590063600

E-Mail: berlim@mne.pt

www.berlim.embaixadaportugal.mne.pt/pt/

The Ambassador

Francisco Ribeiro de Menezes

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Francisco Ribeiro Menezes comes from a diplomatic family, his father is the ambassador Pedro José Ribeiro de Menezes.

He grew up in a variety of countries, notably Argentina, France, the United States and Portugal, along with his younger brother, historian Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses (born 1969). In 1982, Menezes became a member of the Portuguese pop/rock band Sétima Legião, for which he wrote all the lyrics. Until 1983 he did this from his parents' place of residence in the United States, after which he went to Lisbon to study. His cousin Pedro Oliveira co-founded the band in 1982. After completing his studies in law at the University of Lisbon, Menezes went to the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990, where he worked for six years in the office of Foreign Minister Jaime Gama. He then joined the Portuguese diplomatic service. working in particular at the Portuguese Embassy in Madrid and at the Permanent Mission of Portugal to NATO. Since 2006, Menezes has headed the office of Foreign Minister Luís Filipe Marques Amado.

On 8 September 2010 Menezes was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Portuguese Merit. From 2010 to 2011 he was Ambassador of Portugal to Sweden, where he had previously worked at the Embassy. In 2011, the newly elected Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho appointed him head of office.

Menezes' wife, Teresa and Coelho, are old acquaintances and political companions. From 2015 to 2020, Menezes was Portuguese ambassador to Spain. From 2020 he is Portuguese ambassador to Germany.

History

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Political relations between Germany and Portugal are trustful and characterized by frequent mutual visits and a broad agreement on issues relating to foreign and security policy. Germany was fundamental in the building of democratic structures in Portugal after the 1974 Revolution, and supported Portugal’s 1986 accession to the European Community.

Germany and Portugal were among the founding members of the Eurozone in 1999/2000, and nowadays, there is a German-Portuguese Forum, which has occurred annually since 2013, alternately in Berlin and Lisbon. In this Forum, high-level representatives of the two countries’ political, business and scientific sectors meet. The fourth German-Portuguese Forum is to be held in Germany in 2016.

On an economic level, Germany is Portugal’s second most important trading partner, completing approximately 13% of both Portuguese exports and imports. German companies have had their own production facilities in Portugal for over a century, and continue to rank first among investors in the country’s industrial sector. Portugal is a popular tourist destination for Germans. The number of visitors from Germany grew by 10 per cent in 2012 and around 8 per cent growth in 2013.

The cultural bond between these two countries is also strong, especially when it comes to education. This is evidenced by the two prestigious binational German Schools in Lisbon and Porto, which are attended by a total of approximately 1,700 mainly Portuguese students; the Goethe Institute; and a host of university partnerships. The interest from Portuguese students in learning the German language has grown in the last years, as well as in classical and contemporary German music; contemporary German literature and philosophy; art, design, theatre, dance and cinema. Conversely, there is a market in Germany for contemporary Portuguese literature and interest in Portuguese productions (including films).

In addition to the Embassy in Berlin, Portugal has four other representations in Germany. These representations include consulates in Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, and Hamburg.