The Minister of National Defense, Nuno Melo, guaranteed that the choice of fighters that will replace the Air Force’s F-16s will be made through a process that has not yet started and that will be guided by the opinions of technical commissions. Challenged by socialist deputy Hugo Oliveira, during a hearing at the Parliamentary Defense Committee, to reveal his preference, the centrist leader also assured that he did not have it. “I don’t want to spend my next 30 years on commissions of inquiry”, he replied to someone who asked whether the Military Programming Law had already provided for the solution and included the necessary amounts.
Urged by deputies from different benches to carry out investments under the SAFE Program, totaling R$ 5.8 billionNuno Melo made it clear that he would not do so. In response to Sandra Ribeiro, from Chega, the Minister of National Defense said that the contracts have not yet been signed and that “discretion is very important”.
Nuno Melo reiterated that, “if everything goes well”, all new Armed Forces equipment will be delivered by 2030, including frigates, armored vehicles, satellites and drones, in a “virtuous investment” that will boost the Portuguese Defense industry. The minister highlighted that since the end of 2023, 132 more companies have emerged, in an “impressive growth” of 40%, reaching a turnover of 10.9 billion euros and guaranteeing 54.1 thousand qualified jobs.
After an initial intervention, in which he exposed the work “done in 17 months” at the Ministry of Defense, in that he discounted three months lost in the electoral campaign and inauguration, Nuno Melo was faced with questions from Nuno Simões de Melo, coordinator of Chega at the Parliamentary Defense Committee, about the review of the Strategic Concept of National Defense, outdated since 2014when Russia occupied Crimea.
Nuno Melo recalled that the review process does not depend solely on his ministry, ensuring that Defense did its part. The Chega deputy insisted, asking if there was a chance of changing the Military Programming Law without the new Strategic Concept of National Defense being approved, taking into account the transformations in the relationship with the Russian Federation, but also the greater volatility regarding the role of the United States.
Referring to the desire expressed by the PS parliamentary group that there be a monitoring committee for the SAFE investment program, Nuno Melo guaranteed that “the Ministry of Defense’s first concern” is transparency. Something that implies the participation of the General Inspectorate of Finance, the Court of Auditors and the Public Prosecutor’s Office in a scrutiny entitybut another entity will also be under study, with representatives from different government areas and figures appointed by the Assembly of the Republic. “I suppose nothing has ever been done at this level,” he said.
Questioned by Miguel Rangel, from the Liberal Initiative, was the fulfillment of the target of 2% of gross domestic product spent on Defense, established by NATO, to the extent that it incorporated funds from other ministries. After the deputy spoke of the difference between “a real and structural effort to reinforce Portuguese military capacity” and “accounting criteria”, Nuno Melo said that the target was met “with criteria validated by NATO”, including 4.1 billion euros of direct execution from the Ministry of Defense and two billion euros of direct execution from other ministries.
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