2% target already recognised by NATO secretary general as ‘much too low’
Portugal’s prime minister has at last conceded that Portugal will be bringing forward the target – already universally accepted as much too low – of achieving 2% of GDP investment in defence, which had been planned for 2029.
But that is as far as he has gone. He has not given any clues as to when the country will be joining other NATO members in increasing defence spending above the 2% level – saying only that it will require “broad political consensus”.
At the end of today’s Council of Minister, Luís Montenegro conceded that “with a sense of responsibility and in a gradual and sustained way, we are going to bring forward the target of reaching the 2% of our GDP that was planned for investment in defence by 2029.” He refused to take any questions on the matter, but stressed that the increased spending would be made “without jeopardising the capacity of the welfare state or the stability of public accounts”.
Portugal wants to turn the need to increase investment in defence “into an opportunity”, he added. “To invest as much as possible in products developed in Portugal, contributing to the dynamism of national industry and stimulating our export capacity.” To this end, there are technological projects in the defence area in Portugal “already at an advanced stage of development, such as state-of-the-art drones” and others “with high potential, such as the aeronautical and maritime sector.”
“We have every interest in looking at our industry and seeing in it the opportunity to build solutions that allow for more and better jobs and dynamism in economic activity,” he said, returning to the argument that Portugal “has advocated European mechanisms for investment in the area of defence” as part of the negotiation of the European Union’s next multiannual financial framework, as this would help the country ‘catch up’ with so many others who have managed already to up their investment levels.
Right now, Portugal is one of just eight member states that have failed to reach the 2% minimum threshold, which NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte has said repeatedly is “no longer a valid benchmark”; “much, much more” is needed, he insists. ND
Source material: LUSA
