Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro was in Brussels last week, for Thursday’s emergency summit to thrash out defence plans for Ukraine and the entire continent, in the face of Russian aggression and the lack of solidarity from the Trump administration.
Leaders from 26 of the 27 European nations attending the summit reached a commitment to work closely together to bolster support for Ukraine and increase the continent's security. Predictably, the only exception was Hungary’s Victor Orbán.
Mr Montenegro made it clear that the summit was of great importance. Speaking to reporters on the sideline of the meeting, Mr Montenegro said: “Our expectation is that we can take very big steps towards the EU’s participation in a peace process that everyone wants for Ukraine.” He noted that the EU will provide €150 billion in loans to member nations, but would not be drawn on the possibility of a snap election quite soon in Portugal
As a loyal supporter of the European Union for decades, and a founding member of NATO in 1949, Portugal, like nearly all other EU and BATO member states, is deeply concerned about President Trump’s increasingly erratic and unpredictable decisions.
Portugal’s stance in the current defence crisis is neither erratic nor unpredictable— nor is that of Europe’s most influential leader, President Emmanuel Macron, who recently met with Mr Montenegro during the French president’s state visit to Lisbon. Their position is unambiguous: they will continue to back Ukraine against Russian aggression and fully support the EU and NATO, with or without United States backing.
Prime Minister Montenegro and the other European leaders are trying to work out the problem of money: how to dramatically raise funds to meet the need for far greater defence spending.
As part of the latest discussions in Brussels, the European Commission has proposed invoking an emergency provision that would allow Portugal and all other EU nations to significantly exceed hitherto defence spending limits. The plan includes loans guaranteed by the EU budget.
Written by Len Port - photo courtesy of Depositphotos.com
