José Manuel Barroso

Date of Birth: 23.03.1956

Place of Birth. Education. Born in Lisbon (Portugal). In 1978, he completed his law studies at the University of Lisbon. In 1981, he earned his Master's degree in Political Science from the University of Geneva. Later, he obtained his doctorate in Philosophy from the prestigious Georgetown University in the USA. Barroso is an honorary doctor of several European universities. He completed short courses at Columbia University in New York, the International University of Luxembourg, and the European University in Florence.

Career. He taught at the law faculty of the University of Lisbon, was an assistant professor at the University of Geneva, a guest professor at Georgetown University, and headed the faculty of international relations at a private university in Lisbon. In 1979, he founded the Association of Universities for Contemporary European Studies.

Politically, he became involved after the Carnation Revolution in 1974, which overthrew the fascist regime in Portugal. Barroso joined a leftist Maoist group and participated in student strikes and demonstrations. He broke away from the Maoists in 1977.

In 1980, he joined one of the country's most influential right-wing parties, the Social Democratic Party.

In 1985, he became Deputy Secretary of State in the Ministry of the Interior (Socialist government).

In 1984, he became Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

1992-1995 - Minister of Foreign Affairs. After the defeat of the Social Democrats in the elections, he became Dean of the Faculty of International Relations at the University of Lisbon. Additionally, Barroso headed the Faculty of International Relations at the University of Lusíada from 1995 to 1999.

1995-1996 - Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Portuguese Parliament. Overall, he has been elected to Parliament six times since 1985.

In 1999, he was elected chairman of the Social Democratic Party and became the leader of the opposition. In 2002, he brought the party back to power. He was re-elected three times as party chairman.

1999-2002 - Vice President of the European People's Party.

2001-2005 - Vice President of the International Democratic Union.

2002-2004 - Prime Minister of Portugal.

From November 23, 2004, to November 1, 2014, he served as President of the European Commission (the European Parliament approved his candidacy again on September 16, 2009).

He has authored numerous publications on politics, international relations, and the European Union.

Views and Evaluations. Despite Barroso's successes on the political stage in Portugal and the EU, he has often been described in the media as a weak politician who struggles to make connections. He is also portrayed as a committed European and a friend of the USA. He supported the US invasion of Iraq but later criticized the expansion.

Barroso's reforms to adhere to the 3% budget deficit set by the EU led to mass protests.

Since the late 1980s, Barroso has been involved in international diplomatic peace missions in Angola, East Timor, Congo, the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Tanzania, and Libya. He has also addressed the situation of unrecognized republics in the former Soviet Union: South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Transnistria. He opposed the recognition of their independence due to referendums in these countries, but supported the independence proclaimed by Montenegro in 2006. Following the conflict in South Ossetia in 2008, Barroso participated in negotiations for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia.

During Barroso's term, Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union. Negotiations for Turkey's EU accession were conducted during his tenure, but referendums on adopting the EU constitution failed.

After the onset of the global financial crisis in the fall of 2008, he stated that the main measure to combat the crisis should be to cut social security spending. Left-wing factions in the European Parliament accuse Barroso of supporting liberalism, which caused the crisis.

In 2006, the magazine 'European Voice' named Barroso 'European of the Year'.

Awards. Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great (Lithuania), awarded the Bulgarian State Order 'Stara Planina' 1st class.

Family. Married to Margarida Sousa Uva. He has three sons - Luís, Guilherme, and Francisco.

Hobbies. The philosophy of Peter Sloterdijk.

23.03.2022