UN's Antonio Guterres praises East Timor for maintaining 25 years of peace: Video

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, during his visit to East Timor, praised the nation for its resilience and progress. He highlighted East Timor's role in promoting peace and stability in the region and its growing influence on the international stage.

Guterres emphasised that East Timor's journey from conflict to peace serves as an inspiring example of how negotiation and international cooperation can resolve disputes.

"Timor-Leste has greatly inspired the UN in mediating solidarity at the international level. This is something that the UN will never be able to repay to the Timorese people. And, at present, Timor-Leste has evolved from a host country for peacekeeping forces to a country contributing personnel to UN peacekeeping missions in other countries, namely in South Sudan," he said as he addressed a section of the nation.

Citizens like Luis da Silva Amaral also echoed the sentiments of the UN when he told the AFP "The difference is that we are now free, we sleep well. In the past, we couldn't sleep peacefully, because militias were all over the place, looking for us. The young people who were involved in our movements were hunted, kidnapped, they could just disappear or die."

East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, gained independence in 2002 after a tumultuous history of colonization and occupation. The country was a Portuguese colony until 1975, after which it was invaded and occupied by Indonesia.

Following a UN-supervised referendum in 1999, where an overwhelming majority voted for independence, East Timor faced significant violence and destruction before finally achieving sovereignty in 2002.