The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) issued a warning today, stating that the resolutions from the NATO summit in The Hague escalate the “danger of military conflicts of catastrophic proportions” and accused the government of risking involving Portugal in “imperialist military ventures.”
In a statement, the PCP criticized the summit of NATO heads of state and government, which took place Wednesday and Thursday in The Hague, for confirming and formalizing “at the highest level, decisions that exacerbate international tension, particularly in Europe, increasing the danger of military conflicts of catastrophic proportions.”
“Particularly grave is the decision — demanded by the United States and servilely accepted by its allies — to increase military spending to 5% of GDP, highlighting the militaristic escalation of this aggressive alliance and the planned diversion of resources critical to improving living conditions towards the military-industrial complex,” the statement read.
The PCP specifically criticized the “sycophantic national submission of the PSD/CDS Government,” describing it as “unworthy,” where any sign of patriotic pride is “completely absent,” openly confronting the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and dragging with it the danger of a tragic involvement of Portugal in the imperialist military adventures.
“The redirecting of resources towards war, which the government proposes to undertake, faces firm opposition from the PCP, which already denounces the semantic engineering and ‘creative accounting’ used to obscure the serious social consequences of such a choice,” the statement added.
Calling for the dissolution of the alliance, the PCP argued that the agenda of the summit in The Hague was “designed to meet the demands” of the United States in its “assertion as the dominant imperialist power,” as well as to “conceal the difficulties and divergences within NATO.”
The party further criticized the “support given by major NATO and European Union (EU) powers to U.S. and Israeli aggression towards Iran, as well as their complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people,” labeling it as highly serious.
The PCP warned that the “promotion of a wartime economy” in NATO and EU countries, including Portugal, is accompanied by an “attack on labor rights and other fundamental rights and by the trivialization and promotion of the far-right.”
“In view of the serious worsening of the international situation and the dangers arising from the arms race that this NATO summit fuels, the PCP calls on workers, youth, and the Portuguese people to strengthen the struggle in defense of national sovereignty and independence, for peace and solidarity with all peoples fighting against imperialist interference and aggression,” the statement read.
On Thursday, at the conclusion of the NATO summit, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro committed to reaching 2% of GDP in Defense by the end of this year, which, according to government calculations, would require an investment increase of about one billion euros.
Beyond this target, the NATO summit, which concluded today in The Hague, Netherlands, agreed that allies should invest 5% of GDP in defense-related expenditures, including 3.5% in traditional military spending (Armed Forces, equipment, and training) and an additional 1.5% in investments such as infrastructure and industry by 2035, with an interim review in 2029.
