[8] Portugal is the biggest aid donor to Timor-Leste, having granted over US$350 million since it voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999.

[10] Following the outbreak of violence in 2006, then East Timorese Foreign Minister, José Ramos Horta, asked for troops and police to be sent from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal to help calm unrest around Dili.

[11] Prime Minister José Sócrates said that Portugal was planning to send a contingent of paramilitary police to Timor-Leste if the mandate of the United Nations mission there was extended.

[12] Later that month, Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva said the situation in Timor-Leste was very serious, and Portugal would unite with the East Timorese people and do all it could to restore peace.

In 2007, President José Ramos Horta said after meeting his Portuguese counterpart that Timor-Leste will need international forces to maintain security for "another few years".