Lisbon, March 2019 – Francisco Pinto Balsemão, former Portuguese Prime Minister, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Impresa Group, accepted to be part of the Portuguese Appeal Honorary Committee. The invitation was formalized by a delegation led by the vice-president of Portuguese Appeal, Francisco de Mendia, with the presence of other members of the commission, Inês Domingos (MP) and Luís Valadares (the sculptor chosen for the statue of the King D. Manuel II).
Pinto Balsemão was Prime Minister of Portugal between January 1981 and June 1983. He jurist with a degree in law, and was also an active political leader until he dedicated himself exclusively to business life in the media sector. He is the founder and president of Grupo Impresa and chairman of the Board of Directors of SIC, the first private television station in Portugal. He was also the founder of the newspaper Expresso, the main Portuguese weekly newspaper.
He holds a Grand Cross of the Order of Christ, of the Order of the Infante D. Henrique and of the Order of Freedom, Grand Officer of the Order of Merit, among other international distinctions.
