Ukraine will have assistance until they beat the Russian aggression

"It is necessary to make it very clear once and for all that Ukraine will not only have our support for as long as necessary,, Ukraine will have our support until it prevails over Russia" claimed the Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro in a statement at the end of the Atlantic Alliance summit held in Washington, D.C. from 9 to 11 July.

In this summit, where, in addition to the meeting of the 32 Alliance members there were also meetings held with partners from the European Union and the Indo-Pacific region (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea), a joint statement was approved in the morning meeting where everyone committed to Ukraine’s freedom, security, and sovereignty – the Ukraine Pact.

Luís Montenegro claimed that the Atlantic Alliance and its partners "are aligned with regard to military assistance, financial assistance, logistical assistance" to Ukraine. "I don’t recall there being such as strong, consistent, and available alliance as the one that has brought all the European Union member states and the NATO allies and partners", he said.

Portugal will continue to contribute "to the military assistance, political support, technical assistance, training or maintenance of the various Ukrainian military equipment", as well as financial support, he restated in a statement made before the NATO-Ukraine meeting held in the afternoon.

Plan for the south

The Prime Minister said the Atlantic Alliance and its military organisation, NATO, have "a deterrence policy on other geographies where new threats may emerge, oftentimes motivated by a more visible or invisible hand of nations hostile to the Atlantic Alliance, such as Russia".

"I wish to note a point that has been quite stressed and supported by practically all NATO member states in their interventions, which concerns a Portuguese initiative: including in this summit, after work done and led by a Portuguese person, of an action plan for the south", he said. 

The working group, headed by researcher Ana Santos Pinto, appointed at the Vilnius summit, studied the challenges, threats, and opportunities in the Southern neighbours, and concluded that they are increasingly linked to those in the East ad that the allied security is closely tied to that in the Middle East, north Africa, the Sahel, and even the Gulf of Guinea.

Luis Montenegro said that NATO is aware of "the movements that the forces who do not identify with the Atlantic Alliance’s values are trying to disseminate and oftentimes exploit some States’ weaknesses, some geographies to increase their positions".

The joint statement by the Alliance leaders, approved in the first day of the summit, states that "an action plan" was adopted "for a stronger, more strategic action plan guided towards results concerning our Southern flank" and that they will designate "a special representative for the Southern flank that will operate as a focal point and will coordinate NATO’s efforts in the region", as well as a announcing opening a liaison office in Jordan.

Investing in defence and the defence economy

The Prime Minister, who will announce the commitment to increase defence expenditure to 2% of GDP in 2029, amounting to 6 billion euros that year said at the end of the summit that this financial effort will be made in human resources and investment in equipment so that Portugal takes on its role of full NATO member on a military level also.

The Government takes on as a strategic goal "to turn the defence industry and all those related to it into an opportunity to have a new cluster in our economy", making the most of "the technological and scientific capability to be at the cutting edge of innovation", he added.

In fact "today, upholding the NATO member states’ security is not just about military operations, rather the readiness to deploy our forces to assist in a conflict area or any attack that jeopardises member states’ security".

Today, that security is "put in crisis on other scales" and it is necessary to set concrete policies in fields such as the digital space, cybersecurity, or misinformation. "We know there are countries that have joined efforts in this field", he said.

Luís Montenegro added that NATO is the organisation that protects the Portuguese security and land and maritime space during the press conference also attended by the Minister of National Defence Nuno Melo. The Minister of State and Foreign Affairs Paulo Rangel, who also attended the summit returned to Portugal earlier to represent the Government at the Princess of Asturias’s official visit.