Lisbon, June 26, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's Defence Minister Nuno Melo said on Thursday that it is “absolutely crucial” to increase spending on the military, noting that the country must do so “with peace in mind, rather than war.”
Speaking to journalists before a lunch at the IDL - Instituto Amaro da Costa, in Lisbon, Nuno Melo said that 2% of GDP allocated to defence “is the minimum that any NATO member country must comply with at this time”.
“It is a question of commitment and cooperation. We must proceed this way; otherwise, we leave NATO, and then we lose the benefits of Article 5. We also lose the benefits of this protection and this unique defence system,” he said.
He also said that Portugal “should invest in its Armed Forces with peace in mind, rather than war”, as well as “in the purchase of equipment and the modernisation of assets and infrastructure” that can also be used in “civilian missions of the Armed Forces”.
“It is crucial. The discussion is always very friendly, people may think it’s good, they may think it’s bad, but anyone who values their way of life even a little bit understands that this is the only option,” he stressed, warning that “the world demands caution” and “it is unstable.”
Nuno Melo stressed that “the welfare state will remain unquestioned under any circumstances” and “the performance of the economy will remain uncompromised under any circumstances,” adding that “through this investment,” the government’s objective “is to strengthen the performance of the economy.”
The minister also said that this is an investment, not an expense.
He pointed out that “the defence effort is a collective defence effort” and that Portugal “has to fulfil its obligation”, considering that the figures set at the NATO summit are “the result of a commitment that all these countries must meet”.
‘[...] It is also absolutely crucial for Portugal to strengthen NATO’s European defence pillar. This means that we must enhance our strategic autonomy alongside NATO and the European Union, and we must do much more for ourselves than we have done under the umbrella of the United States, because democracy, freedom and our way of life are at stake,’ he argued.
The minister said that “the main opponents of these values invest in defence far more than the European Union countries that are members of NATO currently do”.
The minister described the NATO summit held over the last two days in The Hague, Netherlands, as “historic” due to the decisions the leaders made.
On Thursday, at the end of the NATO summit, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro committed to reaching 2% of gross domestic product in defence by the end of this year, which, according to government accounts, will require an additional investment of around €1 billion.
In addition to this target, the NATO summit agreed that allies should invest 5% of GDP in defence-related expenditure, of which 3.5% should be spent on traditional military expenditure (armed forces, equipment and training) and an additional 1.5% on investments such as infrastructure and industry by 2035, with a mid-term review in 2029.
FM/ADB // ADB.
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