Indonesia, Portugal officially restore diplomatic ties

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Portugal officially reestablished diplomatic ties on Tuesday after a break of almost 24 years.

The resumption of ties, broken off after the integration of East Timor as Indonesia's 27th province, was officially confirmed after representatives from the two countries signed a joint statement at the United Nations in New York.

The statement was signed by Indonesia's permanent representative at the UN, Makarim Wibisono, and his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Monteiro.

It said the two countries "agree to reestablish diplomatic relations between the two countries at ambassadorial level" immediately.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab hailed on Tuesday the resumption of the ties saying it would be a boost to Indonesia's image.

"So when the President visits Europe next year, countries can see that Indonesia has put the East Timor problem behind it and does not have any problems with any European countries," Alwi said.

Embassies in the two respective capitals are expected to be opened early next year.

"After the statement is signed on Tuesday in New York, the Portuguese government can open their embassy here. We officially welcome it. Even tomorrow (Wednesday)," the Indonesian foreign minister remarked.

Alwi refused to say whether Jakarta already had a candidate in mind as Indonesia's ambassador to Portugal.

Lisbon broke off diplomatic ties with Indonesia in 1976.

Portuguese traders first landed in East Timor over 500 years ago and later placed the territory under Lisbon's direct rule.

As the East Timor saga unfolded and Indonesia opted to allow a ballot to be held in the former Portuguese colony, the two sides last year agreed to establish interest sections.

Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly in October ratified the results of the Aug. 30 ballot in which East Timorese rejected the option of autonomy under Indonesia.

In its decree, the Assembly relinquished authority over East Timor to the United Nations.

On Nov. 13, Alwi and his Portuguese counterpart Jaime Gama agreed to resume diplomatic ties in the near future.

Speaking to journalists, Alwi lauded the development claiming it would be beneficial, especially given that Portugal would assume the presidency of the European Union in the new year.

He even claimed that by establishing diplomatic ties Jakarta could seek to lobby Lisbon against issues such as an international tribunal against Indonesian military officers allegedly involved in human rights abuses in East Timor.

"I think this is one of the advantages we can gain from the relationship," he remarked adding that Jakarta was "hopeful" of convincing Lisbon "to understand our position regarding war crimes tribunals on alleged atrocities in East Timor".

Alwi stressed that the resumption of ties was in accordance with the guidelines proposed by the House of Representatives in which the establishment of relations with Lisbon should carry no prerequisites and Indonesia should not be too proactive.

"Indonesia is always keen to develop friendly relations with all countries as long as it is based on principles of equality, mutual respect and noninterference in internal affairs," Alwi said.

In an apparent move to add validity to the latest move, the chairman of the House's Commission I which is charged with Defense, Foreign and Political Affairs, Yasril Ananta Baharuddin, was purposely invited to sit with Alwi during the media briefing.

Yasril conceded that his presence was to show the House's nod of approval.

He expressed hope that the foreign minister would appear in the House after it resumed sessions on Jan. 20 to officially inform members of the latest developments.

Yasril did not predict any difficulties in the House ratifying the government's move. However, he quickly warned that the situation would be different if the government pursued ties with Israel.

"We cannot accept certain countries like Israel. It is different to Portugal. They broke off ties, they wanted to reestablish them and we accepted. This is just a reestablishment of ties, so it won't be a problem," Yasril said. (04)