Portugal’s 2% of GDP defence spending target will be met and is “already an important investment”, Defence Minister Nuno Melo said on Thursday.

“An investment greater than this 2% will depend on a political decision involving the entire government, starting with the prime minister. As soon as the prime minister assumes or understands that growth should be greater than this 2%, we in National Defence will certainly have every advantage and the possibility of accommodating this greater investment,” said Nuno Melo.

“But I work on facts, and our endeavour at the moment is to say that this 2% investment by 2029 will happen,” he added.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said Portugal must review such objectives “in the short term,” citing Poland, the soon-to-be EU Council president, which currently spends 4% of its GDP on defence.

Asked about these statements in Madrid on Thursday, Nuno Melo said the current national 2% target for 2029 “already implies an important investment” for Portugal and must, therefore, be ensured.

Nuno Melo also stressed that this is an investment with “an advantage that has nothing to do with war scenarios,” even if “the geopolitical context” “justifies a lot” of increased budgets.

“It has to do with peacetime. I think that the great advantage of the Portuguese Armed Forces is measured in times of peace,” he added.

“Investment in defence today has a dual-use perspective, benefiting the population. And our growth to 2% of GDP by 2029 will have this dual-use in mind, with an advantage in the military field if necessary, but mainly with peacetime in mind,” he said.

(Margarida Pinto, edited by Pedro Sousa Carvalho | Lusa.pt)

Source: Euractiv.com