José Caeiro da Matta, minister of Foreign Affairs between 1947 and 1950, and ambassador António de Faria, secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, would be surprised by the NATO summit that would take place next week in Washington. 75 years ago, both were in the North American capital to formalize Portugal’s participation as the founding country of the Atlantic Alliance. At the time, Lisbon reluctantly joined NATO at the suggestion of the USA. From Salazar’s point of view, this new alliance was the result of an error in strategic assessment by Washington, London and Paris. Continental Europe would not resist a Soviet attack. Therefore, it was most likely that NATO would not last long.
