"We are ready to defend the territory of any of the NATO member states"

The Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, claimed that NATO is ready to defend the territory of any of its member states, "whether they are from the south, like Portugal, or from the East, like Romania".

The Prime Minister was speaking in Santa Margarida, where he was with the Minister of Defence, João Gomes Cravinho, to watch the tactical demonstration of the Army Company to be soon deployed to Romania, under NATO. 

António Costa also said that NATO’s collective defence, and the affirmation of its deterrence capability, is the "best way to support Ukraine’s fight for respect for international law, the right to its territorial integrity and its freedom of self-determination".

Given Russia’s current aggression against Ukraine, the Prime Minister claimed that "NATO decided to bolster its presence in the Eastern front and create new combat groups, namely in Romania" and it is under this scope that "Portugal will, as always, be "present" in this request", deploying our forces and capacity to reinforce the deterrence to uphold peace in NATO territory".

The Prime Minister noted that "the force that is being prepared, and which will soon be deployed, is not meant to act in Ukraine", rather integrate "a deterrence mission against any risk of attack on any NATO country".

António Costa wished all the staff on this force "the best of luck in carrying out this mission".