Translate the following English sentence to French:
"There was satisfaction at the fact that the conference was able to take place at all - which in itself is a great thing - and we should therefore congratulate the Portuguese Presidency and Commissioner Nielson, whose efforts helped to overcome the difficulties, intrigues and lazy defeatism of many people who assumed that this summit would be suspended, although it was going to fill an unjustifiable vacuum in the external relations of the European Union."
Satisfaction de ce que la Conférence ait pu avoir lieu - ce qui en soi est déjà très important -, ce pour quoi il faut féliciter la présidence portugaise et le commissaire Nielson, dont l' acharnement a permis de surmonter les inconvénients, les intrigues et le défaitisme accommodant des nombreuses personnes qui considéraient acquise la suspension d' un Sommet qui venait combler un vide injustifiable dans les relations extérieures de l' Union européenne.