“We understand that, considering the current emergency we are facing within the European space, it is crucial that by the year 2025, the government makes an effort to approach 2% spending in the area of National Defense,” stated Carlos César, also the acting secretary-general of the PS, speaking to journalists at the official residence of the prime minister in Lisbon.
The socialist spoke alongside the PS’s sole candidate for the party leadership, José Luís Carneiro, following a roughly 45-minute meeting with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, convened by the executive in light of the NATO summit taking place in The Hague, Netherlands, on the 24th and 25th.
Carlos César conveyed to the executive head that the increase in defense investment, as requested by NATO, should not undermine the welfare state or the “sustainability of public finances.” Despite acknowledging the difficulty in reaching this goal, he emphasized that Portugal should show international partners its commitment to achieving it.
The PS president emphasized his concern with the sustainability of public accounts, “not necessarily a deficit or surplus amount,” following Portugal’s April request in Brussels to activate the safeguard clause, exempting defense investments planned for the coming years from European budget rules, particularly deficit calculations.
This investment, according to the socialists, should also promote national production related to the sector.
“We are, therefore, in alignment, undoubtedly, in terms of values and objectives. However, it is crucial that the government provides us with a more precise understanding of the current economic and financial impacts, both in terms of added military capabilities and our national economy,” he noted.
César recalled that the 2% target was set by NATO over a decade ago but noted that the country had focused on “public finance rebalancing.”
The socialist leader highlighted that previous PS governments “equipped the country with the financial means and fiscal health necessary for an extra effort in National Defense.”
The 5% target, announced by NATO’s secretary-general and pushed by the US, is, in the socialist’s view, “incompatible” with Portugal’s budgetary reality.
However, Portugal should align with the aim of increasing defense spending and include investments “in the areas of civil protection, cybersecurity, or technology” in that calculation.
When asked whether the government provided details on the “credible plan” that Defense Minister Nuno Melo claimed to have to meet this goal this year, Carlos César chose to comment on other statements by the centrist leader, who last November accused the PS of reporting an incorrect military spending proportion in GDP to NATO.
“I do not comment on the defense minister’s statements, except to express my view on the impropriety, inopportunity, and lack of state sense regarding his remarks about an alleged inaccuracy in the Portuguese government’s communication to NATO concerning national defense spending in 2023,” he criticized.
César expressed surprise at the “total lack of state sense, which is, moreover, peculiar to him, having embroiled in accounting labyrinths that sought to discredit the Portuguese state,” and said he conveyed this opinion to the prime minister.
The prime minister reiterated today that increasing defense investment will not compromise the balance of public accounts or social spending and expressed openness to contributions from the opposition, particularly from the largest parliamentary groups.
[News updated at 16:58]
