António Guterres, Secretary General of the UN, received the Carlos V European Award, in Spain, and warned of the need to do “tireless” work for peace. He called for equality, the end of racism and xenophobia and recalled that it is necessary to “defend humanity” and “reject hate speech that exploits differences and undermines territorial cohesion”.

“War is not a thing of the past, divisions persist and grow, that we are burning the only common home, there are families forced to flee from wars or extreme weather events, on a scale that has not been seen for decades,” he said during the award-winning speech, in Spain, where he asked Felipe VI for permission. “speak Portuguese.

He dedicated a large part of his speech to the war in Ukraine and insisted on remembering that the values ​​of the creation of the UN and the European Union have never been as threatened as they are today. For this reason, he stressed, it is necessary to constantly reinforce peace, which he said is “the pole star that guides us.”

“Today peace is illusory and weakened”warned the UN Secretary General, while recalling that the invasion of Ukraine is causing “suffering and degradation of the country and the people” and reiterated that “peace should never be underestimated” — “We have to work tirelessly for it ”.

António Guterres affirmed that “hate speech, polarization, racism and xenophobia spread at the speed of a click” and that, given the growth of these movements, it is necessary to “defend humanity and reject hate speech that exploits differences and undermines territorial cohesion”. ”.

The pandemic was also blamed for having exposed “shocking fractures” and, looking to the present, Guterres referred to the gap between rich and poor and the cost of living crisis that “is pushing millions into poverty.” He called for a “fairer, more inclusive and dignified world that leaves no one behind” and left a warning: “Europe is a border, not an island.”

Marcelo: Guterres is the “best of all”

At the Carlos V award ceremony, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa gave a speech almost entirely in Portuguese and highly praised the “great compatriot” with whom he recalls experiences since “the end of his adolescence” and whom he qualifies as “the best from all of us”.

“We were not even 20 years old… He is the best of all of us, in terms of strength of character, vigor of personality, ability to dream, lead, mobilize. He was the best in the sharpness of his intelligence, in the excellence of his academic career, in the brilliance of his oratory, in the unlimited scope of his knowledge, in his perception of facts, situations, people. The best of humanity”, highlighted the President of the Republic.

Recalling António Guterres “unstoppable in the defense of his ideals, in the defense of universal horizons, in the fight for Europe”, Marcelo stressed that even then he was “unique and singular” and “in him was already fully the Europeanist, the High Commissioner for Refugees, Secretary General of the United Nations”, and has always been a “defender of multilateralism and peace”.