Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

P rince of A sturias A wards 1981-2014. S peeches 5 Today, international cooperation is an absolute necessity. Following the globalization processes now in progress, the world has shrunk and there is a general feeling that everything in everyone’s business. The very serious problems now facing us at the end of the millennium, such as poverty, organized crime, lack of belief in essential values, ecological aggression, intolerance, the return of certain types of xenophobia, religious fundamentalism and ignorance, cannot be satisfactorily solved without cooperation. Cooperation implies a culture of peace and solidarity (in the words of Federico Mayor) and is based on acknowledgement of the dignity of men and their essential equality, regardless of race, sex, creed or social condition. Mário Soares — Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation 1995 Mário Soares was President of the Republic of Portugal from 1986 to 1996 and Prime Minister between 1976 and 1977, in 1978 and between 1983 and 1985. — Excerpt from the speech given on the occasion of receiving the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on 27/10/1995.