Portugal’s President António José Seguro has announced a meeting of the Superior Council of National Defence.
A post uploaded to the official site of the presidency this afternoon reads: “The President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces has convened a meeting of the Superior Council of National Defence for Tuesday, March 31, at 4pm.”
Under the Constitution, the Superior Council of National Defence is a specific collegial body, chaired by the President of the Republic, which acts in an advisory capacity on matters relating to national defence and the organisation, functioning and discipline of the Armed Forces.
This body comprises the Prime Minister, the Ministers of State and of National Defence, Foreign Affairs, Internal Administration, Finance, and those responsible for the sectors of industry, energy, transport and communications, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and the Chiefs of the Navy, Army and Air Force.
The Superior Council of National Defence also includes representatives of the Republic and the presidents of the governments of the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira, the chair of the National Defence Committee of the Assembly of the Republic, and two further members of parliament elected to this body by a two-thirds majority.
The president’s announcement comes just as energy minister Maria da Graça Carvalho has confirmed that Portugal is closing in on the moment at which it will have to declare an ‘energetic crisis’, for which specific measures were decided only yesterday.
It also came after Minister for Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, reiterated in Brussels that Portugal will not be participating in the conflict in the Middle East – neither militarily or in the recent capacity suggested by President Trump of ‘securing the Strait of Hormuz’ for the passage of oil tankers. This is a position shared by other NATO members, particularly France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.
In the United States, President Trump has reacted badly to the stance by NATO members not to rally to his call to ‘protect the strait’ (“a very small endeavour”, according to the U.S. president) by calling them “cowards”.
source material: LUSA/ SIC Notícias
