Cluster to be new strategic objective
PM Luís Montenegro has returned from the NATO summit in Washington D.C. with a plan to create a new ‘cluster’ in the economy centered on the defence industry.
The PM revealed this new ‘strategic objective’ of his centre-right government on the final day of the summit.
“This was a summit where Portugal came to transmit in a credible way, in a committed way not to fail an investment plan that is adequate to the commitment established within NATO,” he said, referring to the commitment to achieve an investment in defence of around €6 billion that corresponds to the 2% of GDP by 2029.
The prime minister said that this financial and military effort will be made in “many different ways”, in terms of human resources and an investment plan in equipment so that Portugal can assume its role as an “effective member” of NATO – not only politically and diplomatically, but also in terms of military effort.
“And also from the point of view of a strategic objective that the government is taking on: to make the defence industries and all those that are interconnected with it an opportunity to create a new cluster in our economy, where we can be competitive, taking advantage of our technological and scientific capacity to be at the forefront of innovation,” he said.
At the summit marking the 75th anniversary of the Atlantic Alliance, Montenegro defended NATO as an organisation that protects national security and territorial and maritime space, ensuring that “sovereignty and independence” are not called into question, and that democracy is upheld, along with respect for human rights.
This was a summit very much to reconfirm all NATO countries’ (and some others, namely Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea’s) willingness and commitment to stand by Ukraine,
At the final day’s meeting with representatives of European institutions and NATO’s partners from the Indo-Pacific region, the PM highlighted the importance of “never allowing this unjustified aggression by Russia against the sovereignty of a state.
“Today, defending the security of NATO member states is not just about military operations, about the readiness of our forces to be able to respond to any conflict zone, to any attack that jeopardises the security of member states”. This very security “is in crisis in other dimensions”, and that it is why it is necessary to establish “concrete policies” in areas such as the digital space, cybersecurity and disinformation, he said.
“We know that there are countries making a concerted effort in this area, which also influences our analysis of the war in Ukraine.”
Mr Montenegro reiterated Portugal’s commitment to continue contributing “to the effort of military support, political support, technical support, training and maintenance of various pieces of equipment for the Ukrainian forces,” as well as financial support. Earlier this week, he announced that Portugal’s support for Ukraine will reach €220 million this year, a figure that will be repeated in 2025.
Source material: LUSA
