Brussels, Dec. 20, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's prime minister, Luís Montenegro, is on Friday to will visit the more than 200 soldiers deployed from the country to Romania as part of the NATO mission in that country, accompanied by the minister of national defence, Nuno Melo.
On this, the prime minister's first visit to military personnel on mission abroad since taking office in April, he will also be accompanied by the chief of staff of the armed forces, José Nunes da Fonseca, and the chief of staff of the army, Eduardo Mendes Ferrão.
Montenegro will depart from Brussels, where he attended a European Council meeting on Thursday, and is scheduled to arrive at the Caracal base - located 200 kilometres from Bucharest - at 3 p.m. local time (1 p.m. in Lisbon).
According to the official programme, his visit to the Portuguese military contingent will last less than two hours and will include military honours, a presentation of the framework of the mission in Romania and a convivial snack with the troops, followed by a speech by the prime minister, in which he is to bring "a message of solidarity this Christmas season."
The forces deployed in Romania - a country bordering Ukraine - are made up of one mechanised rifle company and one special operations force, comprising 241 soldiers from the three branches of the Armed Forces, who take part in exercises and training with similar units as part of their missions.
Since 2022, Portugal has been part of NATO's Enhanced Vigilance Activities mission, which aims to affirm the cohesion and determination of the members of the alliance and increase the organisation's readiness, strengthening its deterrence capacity and demonstrating its commitment to collective defence.
This sixth National Deployed Force (FND) in Romania, currently on the ground, received the transfer of authority from the previous contingent on 13 December. It is commanded by Daniel Gomes, a major, according to information on the website of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
In October the defence minister, Nuno Melo, visited Caracal and told Portuguese soldiers at the Romanian base that they are not on this NATO mission just to train, but also to act if circumstances require it.
"The state of readiness, the level of preparation and the equipment of this deployed force demonstrate that they are not here just to train," he said. "They are here to act, if circumstances require it, and in defence of the greater good."
The first FND deployed in this country left for Romania on 15 April 2022. It was visited by the then prime minister, António Costa, in May of that year.
In the run up to Christmas 2022, it was Portugal's president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who visited the soldiers of the second FND at the Caracal military base.
This year, the head of state is on Saturday to visit the first FND in Slovakia, where Portugal is taking part in a NATO mission with around two dozen soldiers.
The first military agreement between Portugal and Romania was signed in 1995 and, among other things, resulted in Portugal selling 17 F-16 aeroplanes to Romania's air force.
A revision of this agreement was signed in 2022 during Costa's visit.
Montenegro's short visit to Romania comes as the country, along with Bulgaria, is just days away from celebrating full integration into the Schengen area on 1 January - an aspiration of both countries that Portugal has always supported.
SMA/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
