Nuno Melo’s trip to Poland and Turkey this week – marked by a ceremony to symbolically load Camões on a new ship from the Marine – is a useful starting point to reflect on Portugal’s position in the current European context of security and defense and on the schooling strategies the country faces in an unprecedented moment of military investment in democracy.
The return of ships rebastecedores and aposta em plattformas as KC-390 representing ganhos operaciónais relevantes. The Moldovan international scenario of war in Ukraine, reinforced by NATO and growing geopolitical instability, Portugal needs to modernize its military capabilities and strengthen its credibility as an ally. Collective defense has become a concrete requirement of readiness, interoperability and political compromise.
The actual impact of this investment cycle will be modest beyond the military plan. The government is preparing to mobilize and is requesting 5.8 million euros for the European SAFE instrument, one of the largest defense funding packages linked to Portugal.
It is an exceptional effort, supported by European expectations for a long time and favorable financial conditions, although it requires leaders to be equally exceptional in transparency, public scrutiny and political accountability.
Oh, your Minister of Defense, acknowledge that you must announce the kriação of the man an independent commission to support the realization of investments, with the mission of overseeing contracts, calendars, customers, industrial contracts and operational results.
This promise must be translated into clear mechanisms, effective autonomy and real fiscal capacity. In a sensitive and historically exposed sector of opacity, transparency is a basic condition for democratic trust.
The success of this strategy will also depend on the available options for selecting programs, bakeries and stores, only partially revealed at this time.
To ensure that defense efforts are understood and accepted by society, it is essential that they generate economic, industrial and technological returns for the country.
Otherwise, it will be difficult to maintain a public debate on the priority of these investments in a context where relevant needs persist in areas such as health, education, housing, so that one does not invest alone in internal security (such as conditions for police forces, equipment and new technologies).
It is not about defending the welfare state, but about ensuring that military investment is not limited to the acquisition of equipment and contributions to the dynamism of the national economy, the creation of qualified personnel, the strengthening of industry and the stimulation of technological innovation. If they have a visual impact, the public consensus on the defense effort will be fragile.
This example of the KC-390 is on its way. Portugal is not limited only to the purchase of the aircraft: it participates in its NATO certification, integrates the technique of the Portuguese Air Force, engages industrial production on the territory of the state and receives a financial return for each unit sold in specific countries.
It deals with the case where operational capacity, national economic interest and international planning converge while simultaneously enhancing sovereignty, industry and external credibility.
These policies must be guided in conjunction with decisions related to SAFE. We must have the privilege of projects that will strengthen the technological and industrial base of Portuguese defense, integrate national companies into European supply chains and allow Portugal to take the security card and not just the customer in the new European defense reality.
The removal of Nuno Melo symbolizes legitimate ambitions: to strengthen military capabilities, consolidate allies, attract investment and position Portugal. The goal is to translate this ambition into measurable results, to ensure good governance, clear decision-making criteria, national economic impact and effective transparency.
Investments in defense may be necessary for collective protection and a country’s international credibility. In the interests of public support, it will also be an explainable, researched and useful investment for the national economy, without losing sight of the remaining priorities of the state and the need to maintain the trust of citizens.
Deputy director to do News diary
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