Portuguese-Serbian relations date back to 1882.

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

has an embassy in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

has an embassy in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. Despite support by Portugal for the independence of

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

, Serbian

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Mirko Cvetković Mirko Cvetković ( sr-Cyr, Мирко Цветковић, ; born 16 August 1950) is a Serbian economist and former politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2008 to 2012 and as finance minister from 2007 to 2008, and again from ...

was keen to improve bilateral cooperation. Also, Portugal is backing Serbia's accession to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(EU).

History

Portugal established diplomatic relations with the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Princi ...

on 19 October 1917. Relations continued with the successor

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

. The Portuguese recognized the government in exile of this state after the German occupation of 1941. Relations with the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

, which took power in 1945 after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, were only established in 1974 after the Portuguese

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

. Following the dissolution of the SFR of Yugoslavia during the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

, Portugal maintained relations with the

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

, later reconstituted as

Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

and finally as the

Republic of Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

after

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

declared its independence in July 2006. In April 1999, Portugal participated in the

NATO bombing of Serbia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

from the

Aviano Air Base Aviano Air Base ( it, Base aerea di Aviano) is a base in northeastern Italy, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. It is located in the Aviano municipality, at the foot of the Carnic Pre-Alps or Southern Carnic Alps, about from Pordenone. Th ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Portugal also provided troops as part of NATO peacekeeping efforts in the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo in 1999. In April 1999 Serbia filed a complaint with the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

regarding Portugal's use of force in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As of 2007, Portugal still had about 300 troops in Kosovo.

Official meetings and statements

* In December 1997, President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Slobodan Milosevic Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović w ...

received Portuguese Foreign Minister

Jaime Gama Jaime José de Matos da Gama, GCC, GCIH, GCL (born 8 June 1947) is a Portuguese former politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal from 1983 to 1985 and again from 1995 to 2002, and he was President of the Assembly of the Re ...

, to discuss strengthening bilateral relations. * In January 2002 The Foreign Minister of Portugal, Jaime Gama, returned to the

in his capacity as

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE) Chairman-in-Office. The OSCE was engaged in stabilizing the situation in southern Serbia following the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

. *In November 2003,

President

Svetozar Marović Svetozar Marović ( sr-cyr, Светозар Маровић; born 31 March 1955) is a Montenegrin lawyer and politician who served as the last head of state and head of government of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 until Montenegro's declaratio ...

visited Portugal. During this visit he signed an agreement on the succession of Bilateral Agreements between the SFR of Yugoslavia and Portugal, extending prior agreements on tourism, business, scientific and technological cooperation, and cooperation in information. *In July 2005 Portuguese Minister of Defense

Luís Amado Luís Filipe Marques Amado, GCC (born 17 September 1953) is a portuguese politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2011 in Portugal's XIII Government led by the Socialist Party. Before replacing Diogo Freitas do Amaral ...

visited Serbia and Montenegro, where he discussed military cooperation with his Serbian counterpart. * In May 2007 Portuguese Foreign Minister Luís Amado gave strong support for Serbian ambitions to join the European Union. * In July 2007, Serbian Prime Minister

Vojislav Kostunica Vojislav ( sr-Cyrl, Војислав, ) is a Serbian masculine given name, a Slavic dithematic name (of two lexemes), derived from the Slavic words ''voj'' ("war, warrior"), and ''slava'' ("glory, fame"), which both are very common in Slavic name ...

visited Lisbon. * In October 2008, Portugal recognized Kosovo's independence from Serbia. (See also Kosovan–Portuguese relations.) *In November 2008, Portuguese Foreign Minister Luís Amado met with his Serbian counterpart

Vuk Jeremić Vuk Jeremić ( sr-cyr, Вук Јеремић, ; born 3 July 1975) is a Serbian politician and diplomat who served as the president of the United Nations General Assembly from 2012 to 2013 and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia from 200 ...

in Belgrade and voiced his support for removing the suspension of a trade agreement between Serbia and the European Union. Also that month, the Serbian Minister of Science and Technological Development met a Portuguese delegation and discussed cooperation in energy efficiency, nanotechnology and the food industry, with plans to sign a Cooperation Agreement on Science and Technology by the end of 2008. *In February 2009, Serbian Defence Minister

Dragan Sutanovac Dragan (, sr-Cyrl, Драган) is a popular Serbo-Croatian masculine given name derived from the common Slavic element '' drag'' meaning "dear, beloved". The feminine form is Dragana. People named Dragan include: Politicians and office holde ...

met with his Portuguese counterpart

Nuno Severiano Teixeira Henrique Nuno Pires Severiano Teixeira (born November 5, 1957, in Portuguese Guinea) is a Portuguese academic and politician. Severiano Teixeira is a full professor at New University of Lisbon, and was also the vice rector of the same institution ...

. They signed an agreement on defense cooperation and discussed Serbia's NATO bid. *In June 2009, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic met with Portuguese parliamentary speaker

, and discussed improvements to bilateral cooperation.

Economic relations

In the January–October 2006 period bilateral trade between Serbia and Portugal were estimated at US$12.7 million.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Portugal has an embassy in

. * Serbia has an embassy in

. File:Embaixada da Sérvia em Lisboa 01.jpg, Embassy of Serbia in Lisbon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portugal-Serbia relations

Bilateral relations of Serbia