"Therefore, it is unfair to compare the incomparable, and to forget the global costs of what we have experienced, and even the costs of the revolution, which only existed because the dictatorship did not know how or did not want to make a transition, unlike neighboring Spain", said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, at the solemn session commemorating the 50th anniversary of April 25 at the Assembly of the Republic.

In his speech, which lasted for almost half an hour, the Head of State mentioned, although without naming them, Ramalho Eanes, Mário Soares, Francisco Sá Carneiro, Álvaro Cunhal, Freitas do Amaral and Cavaco Silva, among others, when speaking about the background of the Carnation Revolution and the stabilization of the democratic regime.

Each name mentioned was met with different applause, sometimes more to the right and sometimes more to the left, in the Session Room, where the former Heads of State António Ramalho Eanes and Aníbal Cavaco Silva were present in one of the galleries.

"Many, many others like them fought and often won. And others fought and lost, little or much. And some were disappointed, on April 25, others on September 28, others on March 11, others in the hot summer, others on the crucial November 25, which ended up defining the outcome of the revolution", and still "others over the last 50 years", he said.

At this point in his speech, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa highlighted that November 25, 1975 "rightly, just like the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution, has always been intended to be part of the April celebrations, which will only end in 2026".

"Thus, History is often made and remade more from the lows than from the highs", he observed.

Next, the President of the Republic asked: "And will these highs and lows compare to any other political, military, social movement in our contemporary history, in the history of our oldest European partners or our newest European partners?"

"No, there is no comparison. April 25 implied at the same time the end of a five-century empire, the end of a five-decade dictatorship, economic and political integration in what is now the European Union and four changes in economic regime", he argued.

According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, "no other revolution or military coup has been comparable" in contemporary history, because "no other modern European empire has faced all these challenges at the same time in less than 30 or 40 years".

"None of our Eastern partners had extra-European empires or experienced decolonization, with democratization, with European integration and four changes in economic regime like us. Therefore, it is unfair to compare the incomparable", he argued.

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