The Prime Minister of Portugal is set to meet with opposition leaders on June 18, in preparation for NATO’s summit in The Hague on June 24-25, and to discuss the planned increase in national defense investment. Meetings are scheduled with the Chega Party leader at 17:15 and the Socialist Party leader at 18:00, as announced by the Prime Minister’s office.
The meetings will take place in São Bento. Carlos César serves as the interim Secretary-General and president of the PS, while André Ventura is the president of Chega.
The program of the XXV Constitutional Government, published last Saturday, aims to reach 2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in defense investment this year, with a fifth of the amount allocated to goods, infrastructure, and equipment.
Following the Prime Minister’s inaugural address on June 5, announcing an early achievement of the 2% GDP defense investment target originally set for 2029, efforts have intensified.
“Achieving 2% of GDP in national defense investment as early as 2025, ahead of the 2029 target, with 20% of the investment allocated to goods, infrastructure, and equipment, in line with NATO commitments,” states the document.
The government’s strategic reinforcement plan for defense includes promoting dual-use investments for military and civilian purposes, aligning with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s suggestion to increase the flexibility of defense budget accounting to meet NATO commitments.
The Government’s program stipulates two conditions to meet the 2% GDP target.
“Maintaining the national social state model and fostering an environment conducive to the national security and defense industry, which can multiply public investment due to its internal expenditure absorption capacity,” according to the document.
On June 5, NATO’s Secretary-General officially proposed that organization leaders agree to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP at this month’s summit in The Hague, to cover military capability costs.
“I will propose a global investment plan totaling 5% of GDP in defense investment: 3.5% of GDP for pure defense spending, based on global costs to meet the new capability objectives that ministers recently agreed upon, and 1.5% of GDP annually in defense and security-related investments such as infrastructure and industry,” stated Mark Rutte.
The NATO summit is scheduled for June 24-25 in The Hague.
[News updated at 17:11]
