The Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, announced today that the government has approved the country’s formal application to the European program SAFE (Security Action for Europe), which involves an expenditure of approximately 5.8 billion euros on various military equipment and capabilities for the Portuguese Armed Forces.
Leitão Amaro also stated that the Council of Ministers decided to invest 280 million euros in the rehabilitation of the Pandur fleet, which are armored military vehicles.
This investment is expected to provide an additional two decades of operational capability for approximately 185 vehicles, he said.
“And because this defense effort is also made in alliance,” stressed the minister, the government approved an expenditure of 15 million euros to support a cooperation program with Cape Verde and an additional two million euros as a step in supporting Ukraine, specifically the “Grain from Ukraine” initiative.
Leitão Amaro emphasized that this represents a significant effort by the Portuguese to enhance military capabilities, which are crucial for defending our territory, maritime space, and Europe as a whole.
The minister outlined that this effort will be accounted for within NATO’s targets, following Portugal’s commitment to reach 2% of GDP in military spending this year and 5% by 2035.
Leitão Amaro further remarked that the two main opposition parties, Chega and PS, have been thoroughly briefed on these investments, highlighting a “concerted effort by the democratic political powers to equip the Armed Forces to fulfill their role in defending the country.”
In September, the European Commission proposed loans totaling 5.841 billion euros for the defense sector in Portugal, out of a total of 150 billion euros allocated for European political-economic bloc countries, under the SAFE program.
The government must submit its plan for the use of these loans to Brussels by the end of the month, with the loans set to be utilized by 2030.
During the questioning session, the minister declined to specify which equipment would be included in the program or the interest rate on the loans, referring that information to the Ministries of Defense and Finance.
“There is a selection process for the equipment, which follows its own rules, so I am not in a position to specify them, and there is a dialogue with the parties, with confidentiality, on priority areas,” he explained.
Leitão Amaro was also asked about a report by Expresso, which stated that the government reports nearly double the budget of the Ministry led by Nuno Melo to NATO, without disclosing the source of the funds.
“There are expenses from the Ministry of Defense and expenses on defense that are not within the Ministry of Defense. It is very simple. In recent years, the ratio has been 70% of defense expenses are in the Ministry of Defense’s Budget, 30% are not,” he stated.
He also noted that there is increased investment in “dual-use” equipment, serving both defense roles and civil protection, health, or medical evacuation functions, for example.
Leitão Amaro added that “NATO does not evaluate the budgets of each country’s Ministries of Defense” but uses and counts “the reporting of expenses that are demonstrated and indicated as primarily or dually used for defense,” considering that “there is no mystery” involved.
[Updated at 19:34]
