Ah, the 'state visit.' That venerable tradition where one head of state flies thousands of miles to tell another head of state things they could have easily covered in a thirty-second Slack message. This week, it’s Estonia’s Alar Karis, who has traded the charmingly grey, horizontal rain of Tallinn for the sun-drenched hills of Lisbon. Officially, he’s there at the invitation of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to 'strengthen bilateral ties.' Translation: the wine is better in Portugal, and the taxpayer is buying.

The itinerary is a masterclass in performative governance. They’re talking about 'digital cooperation' and 'cybersecurity,' because in 2024, if a politician doesn't mention a 'digital ecosystem' at least once every four hours, they lose their pension. They’ll visit a tech hub, nod sagely at a monitor showing a line graph that goes up, and talk about 'unicorns'—those mythical billion-dollar startups that usually provide a service no one asked for, fueled by venture capital and the hope that they’ll be sold before the bubble pops.

Let’s be honest: Portugal and Estonia are the geographical bookends of the European Union. They couldn't be further apart if they tried. But here they are, pretending that their 'shared values' are so profound they require a multi-day itinerary of motorcades and gala dinners. Karis will praise Portugal’s Atlantic perspective, Rebelo de Sousa will marvel at Estonia’s paperless bureaucracy, and together they’ll sign a Memorandum of Understanding—a document that carries all the legal weight of a New Year's resolution but looks much better when framed in a hallway.

It’s a beautiful piece of theater. The suits are sharp, the handshakes are firm, and the rhetoric is as airy as a Portuguese custard tart. While the rest of the continent worries about energy costs and actual, non-digital conflicts, our leaders are busy ensuring that the 'synergy' between the Baltic and the Atlantic remains at an all-time high. It’s comforting, really. No matter how much the world changes, the political class will always find a way to justify a five-star working lunch in a Mediterranean climate. Don't worry about the bill; the 'synergy' is priceless.