Full speech delivered by the President of the Government, Vasco Cordeiro, at the Solemn Session to celebrate the Day of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in the city of Horta on Monday:

"On this day when we celebrate the Azores and our Autonomy, I address my first words to greet the Azorean people who, from Corvo to Santa Maria, are united by the feelings of Sharing, Hope and Solidarity that this day also symbolises.
 
As we all know, it was not by chance that the date chosen to celebrate our Region, our Azores, coincides with the celebrations of Pentecost Monday.

Celebrating the Azores on this day is also the celebration of one of the key pillars of our "Azoreanity." This is one of the celebrations that, along with our islander condition, contributes to the construction of our identity, regardless of where an Azorean is.

Thus, celebrating the Day of the Azores is also the celebration of those who have taken the Azores to other places.

Recalling the "Azoreños" from Uruguay who have settled in San Carlos 250 years ago or the Azoreans that have arrived in Halifax, Canada, 60 years ago, I salute our brothers in the Diaspora, conveying a word of appreciation and evoking their presence in this session, which is also a demonstration of the Azorean feeling and pride in our Islander condition.

Those who have left the archipelago for other places, either by necessity or choice, have their place in the celebration of a People that has explored horizons and overcome boundaries, and nowadays the diaspora of our people is spread throughout the World.

I bid a special welcome to our honourees for their Example and their Dedication and for being the embodiment, through their actions, of what honours and dignifies the Azorean People.

The bestowal of the Honorary Commendations is not a mere act of recognition.

It is also a clear demonstration that the Azorean people, through its representatives, considers that your life paths, your deeds and your work should be an inspiring example to our fellow citizens.

Thank you all for bringing more intensity to the pride we have in the name of the Azores.

Being more than a celebration of the ideal that each of us have of it, we celebrate today the actual Autonomy, the one that is born of a commitment between ideas and the reality they aspire to create.

It is, therefore, an Autonomy that is renewed on a daily basis, being a driving force in the legitimate ambition of each political, institutional or social actor of transforming it and accomplishing its goals.
 
We recognise that this process of dialogue and the healthy tension between different perspectives have allowed us to move forward and make progresses.

Embodying this spirit, what it represents and what we celebrate, this day is the day of all Azoreans and of none in particular.

On this important day for the Azores, it is essential to put into perspective the path we have followed.

The path we have followed as a People as well as the path we have followed as a Region.

Our many accomplishments have been achieved throughout a path that was often hindered by the intensity and vagaries of Nature, but also by the suspicion, misunderstanding and ignorance of human beings.

But here we are today.

We are standing firm and proud of our achievements over time.

Furthermore, looking to into the future, with ambition, and envisaging the path we intend to follow is as important or even more important than putting into perspective the path we have followed.
These are challenging times.

We live in a Europe that seems to have lost its way and plays, thoughtlessly and unconsciously, with fires that have severely burned it in the past.

We are increasingly witnessing a setback that manifests itself in the growing gap between Northern and Southern countries as well as between central and peripheral countries.

We also notice on a daily basis a trend that seems to be pushing into the background the European and humanist values we believed to be unquestionable in the 21st century, after the wars fought in the 20th century.

Being one of the major assets of the new Europe, the Welfare State seems to be trapped by a cunning discursive construction that considers it as a hindrance for the technocrats of European offices, being an obstacle that must be overcome as soon as possible so that markets - the alpha and omega of this technocratic Europe - may continue to be satisfied in their constant dissatisfaction.

Amid this turmoil of injustice, uncertainty and failed priorities, our Region and our Autonomy are faced with a major challenge to overcome.

In order to accomplish this goal successfully, we must take action with determination and ambition to serve and protect the Azorean people from the turmoil that also affects us within the limits of our powers and resources.
 
But even here, we must realise that the protection shield we want our Autonomy to be is not compatible with passivity, apathy or inertia.
 
Hence, the solution is not to consider Autonomy as a wall that isolates us from the increasingly globalised world we live in and that we have the right to demand from it the answers that ignore the national and international context.

We must make our own path to enhance what can be improved, correct what is not right and change what can be changed.

Our Autonomy does not justify inactivity when action is needed.
Our Autonomy does not justify that we ignore a changing reality that requires us to take action accordingly.

Our Autonomy should be a tool that allows us to stipulate the time, the strategy and the goals to fulfil this aspiration.

Autonomy does not mean being isolated from the world that surrounds us, but rather being able to take into our hands the capacity to create solutions that best serve us as a People.

This is how we should combat the Unemployment that has hit many Azorean families and to which we have awarded priority status in the context of our political action.

This is the action we are taking in our Economy as well as in the measures we are implementing with the aim of strengthening the competitiveness of our companies.

This is also our concern for the Regional Health Service in order to assure its sustainability and improve the service provided to the Azorean population.
 
There are so many areas of our collective life in which our Autonomy cannot be an excuse to continue adopting the same solutions, but rather a stimulus in the provision of the best responses to the challenges we face.

The Autonomy we enjoy today, which is only considered valid if it is an Autonomy that bears results for all Azoreans, cannot run the risk of being reduced to an Autonomy of material comfort.

As the construction cycle of infrastructures is about to be concluded, it is also necessary to focus our attention on the development of an action that should be more than the assurance of the material benefits that our government model has provided; it should be an action that fulfils an Autonomy that promotes the qualification of our society, our People and our Democracy.

The future of our Region as well as the future of our Autonomy should take into consideration a strategic guideline that includes the assurance of an Education system that provides every Azorean with the necessary tools for their personal, social and professional fulfilment.
 
This is a challenge to which our Autonomy has not fully responded, particularly in the areas of school success and the fight against early school dropout.

Nevertheless, this challenge is absolutely vital to the success and even to the future survival of our self-government model.

Given the strategic importance of this challenge, it requires the effort and commitment of all actors in our society.

But one cannot think that this task is solely in the hands of the Government.

It is up to each one of us to acknowledge the value of qualification in our society. For this reason, the lack of a concerted effort, whether for the creation of conditions and mechanisms to meet this need or for the enhancement of those who pursue it, hinders the success of this goal.

In this context, there is another aspect that is also essential to our collective future and, in particular, to the future of our Autonomy.

This aspect concerns the active and committed exercise of a demanding and enlightened citizenship.

Autonomy is increasingly less dependent on institutional forms of civic affirmation and political participation.

It should be rooted in the belief of its individual merits and potentialities.
In order to follow this path, it is necessary to promote an interventive, enlightened and committed citizenship.

In this particular case, it is very easy to assign the responsibility of promoting this autonomic citizenship solely to public bodies.

We are all responsible and we will all be responsible for the vigour and intensity with which we are able to bring these concerns that directly influence the evolution and sustainability of our Autonomy to our everyday life.

Modernity has not exhausted its historical cycle on our islands.
It is essential to continue the debate of the end of the 19th century, the need to venture into new paths towards innovation and the new creations of freedom and politics.

These new paths will be followed by the Azorean Women and Men and the Azorean youngsters who, in order to find their place in the world, feel the need to recognise that their way of thinking is based on the difference of their insularity as an asset that dignifies their heritage as well as their ideals of solidarity and Autonomy.

We thrive for a regional Autonomy and a feeling of Solidarity that is attached to the name of the Azores, being a concept that has special relevance, particularly on Pentecost Monday, in the social and political traditions of the islands of our Grandparents, our Parents and of our Children.

There is an urgent need for a Democracy in which all citizens will have the necessary conditions to achieve the ideals of freedom and self-fulfilment.
There is a path that continues and the path followed by the Azorean people has not ended.

The Azores have not stopped.

Today, on our Day, the Azores bring, once more, to this rescued Country the values of Freedom, Responsibility and intergenerational Solidarity.

These are the values of a People that stands firm and renews itself every day while disseminating the Soul of the Country in the Atlantic Ocean.

The map to which Azores belong and wish to continue belonging is the map of ideas, dialogue and prosperity that values individual opportunities without rejecting solidarity between generations, peoples and regions.

This is the world we build every day with boldness and pride and we do not want that others decide for us, whether in Lisbon, Brussels or in Washington.
 
Being aware of the responsibility of History upon us and driven by the ambition of fighting for a better Future, we have no doubts in saying that fighting for the Respect and Dignity we have rightfully earned, is, perhaps, the best tribute we can pay to our Parents and Grandparents, and the best legacy we can leave to our Children.

Therefore, on this day, all Azoreans, whether those scattered around the world or those living in the archipelago, should yell with Hope and Confidence, with faith and strength.

Live the Azores!"