The EuroAmerican Forum in Carcavelos, Cascais, today was another occasion for political grandees to sound the warnings over a probable war between Europe and Russia.
This time it was the moment for José Manuel Durão Barroso – former PSD prime minister, former European Commissioner, among other roles and positions – to stress that “if the European Union wants to exist as a political entity, it has to do something to defend itself (…) to guarantee peace.”
In Durão Barroso’s opinion “the only way for us to avoid a generalised war in Europe is to show potential aggressors that we are prepared, and that they will not have success”.
As for the common ‘bleat’ that to invest in defence is to put social well-being at risk, the former political leader is (another one who is) not buying it.
“A war will cost a great deal more than investment in defence to stop this war… It would cost a lot more, not just in human lives (which is the most important) but in economic terms”, he said.
Investing in defence “is not just investing in tanks and weapons. It is investing in capacities for defence, which include, for example, technology”.
As much as Durão Barroso said he dislikes the idea that his own grandchildren could be called up to fight in a war, he stressed that it is “very possible” that Portugal will have to participate in a wider conflict.
“We here in Portugal, perhaps, do not feel these things so clearly. But I was in Poland a little while ago. They are preparing actively for a war that they believe is coming. And Poland is a country that is part of the European Union. It is a NATO country. If Poland is attacked, Portugal has the obligation, due to treaties it has signed, to help Poland.
“All the military chiefs in leading European countries say the same thing: we must prepare because there is a large possibility of a Russian attack on a NATO country within the European Union”. The possibility, he warned, has been flagged “by specialists”.
Thus, the only way to stop Vladimir Putin from “advancing” is “obviously, not to allow him victory in Ukraine”.
As Mr Barroso addressed his audience, the situation in Ukraine has become increasingly complicated. Russia’s tactics of ‘throwing infantry at the frontline, no matter how many are killed’ has brought territorial gains, however slow (and costly in terms of human lives, and the money spent on compensating the families of the dead). Ukraine, on the other hand, is trying to ‘spare’ its youngest generations, and is consequently fighting this war vastly outnumbered.
Source: LUSA
