International Meetings in Political Studies (Est. 1993) – Confronting the Authoritarian Challenge

“ln democracy, as in everything in life, nothing is definitively conquered. That is why your meeting today is, allow me to say, perhaps one of the most important of the last 30 years. l’m sure you know. Thank you for having it, as always, in Portugal. The ocean and its horizons will certainly inspire the threshold of your ambition.”
H. E. MARCELO REBELO DE SOUSA –President of the Portuguese Republic

‘The lnstitute for Political Studies of the UCP continue s to be a reservoir for a world-class education and informed debate in the increasingly tense environment of political activity. The lnstitute is an honest broker of democratic thought in Portugal, levering the debate and educating citizens capable of thinking strategically and responsiblyabout the future.”
ISABEL CAPELOA GIL –Rector, Universidade Católica Portuguesa

“For 80 years, Estoril welcomed kings without crowns, aristocrats without titles and anonymous citizens from all over Europe. They were all equal in suffering at the hands of inhuman ideologies, criminal revolutions, and relentless fanaticism.
The beacon of humanity and pluralism that never went out in this land is now, in 2022, a light of shelter for those escaping from the war in Ukraine.”
CARLOS CARREIRAS –Mayor of Cascais

‘We have always made clear our attachment to the classical understanding of the ldea of a University as a place of learning – as Michael Oakeshott, another of our great mentors, used to say. This means the understanding of a University as a place for the pursuit of Truth, the Good and the Beautiful – and not as a place of propaganda.”
JOÃO CARLOS ESPADA –Director and Founder of IEP-UCP

“Some of our Portuguese colleagues from other Universities, are sometime s surprised by the success of this unplanned evolution of what has become a great institution of friends of liberty. However, whenever they join us at the Estoril Political Forum, they too, are touched by the atmosphere of orderly liberty which we celebrate in these meetings.”
RITA SEABRA BRITO –Director Estoril Political Forum [Since 2008]