Portuguese-speaking countries will cooperate in peacekeeping missions

The Portuguese Minister of National Defence, Helena Carreiras, claimed that the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) will have joint, civilian and military participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions.

"We will have training so we can jointly participate in this effort of producing international security", Helena Carreiras detailed at the opening of the 12th CPLP Ministers of Defence meeting held in Luanda, Angola.

The Minister also highlighted the "civilian cooperation cell we are building and which will enable us to jointly participate in UN peacekeeping missions", adding that the increase in joint training is "one of the most important matters to address" at the meeting

Boosting cooperation

Helena Carreiras also said that boosting "the importance of cooperation and coordination between these sibling countries in promoting security and defence for all" is the meeting’s central aim. 

On the United Nations Women, Peace and Security Agenda, another of the matters to be addressed at the meeting, the Minister noted that all the countries "are engaged in this effort to build equality in the Armed Forces, its defence structures, so we can have more resilient and more effective defence.

Helena Carreiras also added that these meetings are highly relevant for the countries to understand each other mutually and are "an essential step" towards "working together, as has been done, to promote security and strengthen resilience given an increasingly wider range of threats".

"This is the spirit of the CPLP, namely this defence component, where we have very interesting projects under way", she added.