Ramos-Horta: from Dili to the Middle East, dialogue without preconditions ‘towards global peace’
Timor-Leste’s president spoke at the Global Leadership & Dialogue Initiative in Kuala Lumpur. In his address, he cited the huge human toll his country paid towards full international recognition. Next October, the country will become the 11th ASEAN member state.
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) - Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta has called for genuine dialogue without preconditions as the essential path towards global peace, drawing from his own country’s painful but transformative journey from conflict to reconciliation.
Speaking at the Rights Foundation’s Global Leadership & Dialogue Initiative in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, Ramos-Horta reflected on Timor-Leste’s decades-long struggle for independence, beginning with the nation’s liberation from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975 and the subsequent Indonesian occupation.
He noted the immense human toll, including mass human rights violations and the loss of thousands of lives, particularly during the violent period surrounding the 1999 UN-sponsored referendum in which the East Timorese overwhelmingly voted to break away from Indonesia.
Yet despite the suffering, Timor-Leste chose reconciliation over revenge, said Ramos-Horta.
“Xanana (Gusmao), with all his charisma, declared that there will be no revenge, no looking back after 24 years of conflict,” Ramos-Horta said, referring to Timor-Leste’s founding president and current prime minister.
“Xanana said, we honour the dead, we take care of the survivors, but we must move on as a nation.”
Ramos-Horta argued that the same principle — dialogue without conditions — should guide the resolution of today’s global conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine war and long-standing disputes in the Middle East.
“Our dialogue continued even when Indonesia maintained its claims to East Timor, while we upheld our right to self-determination as recognised by the United Nations,” he said, referring to the 1982 UN General Assembly resolution that acknowledged the East Timorese struggle.
Following the historic 1999 referendum, Indonesia formally withdrew its troops, paving the way for a UN-administered transition period and ultimately, Timor-Leste’s full independence on 20 May 2002.
Now, two decades after gaining sovereignty, Timor-Leste is preparing to step fully into the regional fold. Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced on 27 May that Timor-Leste will become ASEAN’s 11th member state at the next regional summit in Kuala Lumpur, scheduled for October 2025.
“The decision is they will be accepted as a full member in the next October session,” said Anwar, whose country holds the ASEAN chairmanship this year. He added that Timor-Leste is close to meeting the final requirements, particularly under the economic pillar.
Anwar described the move as a result of genuine consensus among ASEAN states, following years of negotiations and rigorous assessments of Timor-Leste’s readiness.
Timor-Leste, Asia’s youngest democracy, formally applied to join ASEAN in 2011, though its desire to become part of the regional bloc dates back to its independence in 2002. In 2022, the country was admitted in principle and granted observer status at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
On 26 May, a day before the official announcement, Ramos-Horta expressed his gratitude in a Facebook post, recalling the long and often difficult road to membership.
“In 2011, when as president I signed the formal letter of intention to join ASEAN, not too many in Timor-Leste understood and agreed. Not too many in ASEAN agreed,” he wrote. “My deep appreciation to all leaders and officials of ASEAN past and present.”
He also paid tribute to the tireless work of Timorese leaders, including Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who have pushed the accession process forward in recent years.
“And now, we must work even harder,” Ramos-Horta added, acknowledging the significant responsibilities that come with full ASEAN membership.
Timor-Leste’s entry into ASEAN had previously been delayed by concerns over whether the young nation, with a population of just 1.5 million, had the institutional capacity to meet ASEAN’s commitments – such as hosting high-level summits and fulfilling complex bureaucratic obligations.
Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, underscored that Timor-Leste’s approach to dialogue, cooperation, and peace-building can enrich the ASEAN community at a time when the region faces escalating geopolitical rivalries and humanitarian crises.
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