The Minister of Defense highlighted this Monday, the 1st, the “largest investment at once” in the Armed Forces at the December 1st ceremonies, the last by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who heard words of displeasure from a group of nationalists.
Nuno Melo was referring to Portugal’s formal application to the European SAFE Defense loan program, worth 5.8 billion euros, approved on Friday by the Council of Ministers.
“It is the largest single investment in the Armed Forces, providing them with equipment that is absolutely necessary to carry out missions inside and outside Portugal”, stated the Minister of Defense, who represented the Prime Minister at the ceremonies commemorating the Restoration of the Independence of Portugal, in Restauradores (in Lisbon).
Nuno Melo sent more details in the coming days about the equipment in which Portugal will invest within the scope of this European program for the next decade, and also about the interest to be paid, saying it was “ships, armored vehicles, satellites, ammunition, drones”.
“There will be investments in all areas, land, sea, air and space (…) Everything that is absolutely necessary in the Armed Forces, which has much of its equipment already very outdated, at the end of its cycle, and this effort is decisive”, he stated.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who, as usual, did not speak at the ceremony, went at the end to one of the sides of Praça dos Restauradores to greet members of an association friends of Olivença.
However, next door were other popular people (about a dozen) with a banner reading “Portuguese first”, who took advantage of the proximity of the head of state to leave him some words of displeasure.
“I’m very happy that you’re finishing your consulate and leaving the country,” said one of them, with another confronting him with the alleged favoritism of two twin children in the National Health Service, an incident that lasted only a few moments before the head of state got into the car.