H.M. King Felipe VI on the laureate:

[…] ‘António Guterres is a man who knows how to reconcile his profound ethical and social convictions with the scientific rigour of his academic background. He became involved in politics as a very young man, at a decisive moment in his country's history. I am referring here to the transition that we Spaniards experienced at the same time, with equal hope and determination: the transition from dictatorship to democracy. Since then, António Guterres’s commitment to justice and to harmony have guided his career: as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002; as President of the European Council in the year 2000; as the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015; and, since January 2017, as the UN’s Secretary-General. […] António Guterres’s example shows that there is no contradiction between the construction of a more united Europe and the quest for an open and plural international order —one that is more just and more cooperative— founded on the principles and values of the UN Charter.’ […]