The nominated director of SIED (Serviço de Informação Estratégicas de Defesa) pledged permanent cooperation with the SIS and the armed forces this Wednesday, during a hearing in which the PSD reiterated its breach of trust towards the “secret”.
João Pedro Marinho da Costa, a career diplomat nominated by the prime minister for the role of director of SIED, was heard in parliament at a joint meeting of the Constitutional Affairs and National Defense committees.
For the deputies, the diplomat expressed the view that the international environment is characterized by “complexity, instability and unpredictability” — phenomena he said have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and, above all, by “Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
“The growing opposition between democratic and authoritarian regimes is endangering peace. It is fertile ground for the development of multiple threats to our security, from terrorism to cyber-attacks, the instrumentalization of migrations and organized crime.”orphan.
Still in this context, he defended that “China’s rise has proved to be an unavoidable strategic challenge”.
“The European Union has confirmed that China is a cooperation partner, an economic competitor and a systemic rival,” he stressed, before claiming that “the rest of the century will be marked by what happens” in the Indo-Pacific.
If confirmed, João Pedro Marinho da Costa stated that his priority will be “a permanent link with the SIS (Security Information Service) and the armed forces, as well as with any national or multilateral entities that can contribute to maximizing the strategic potential . “.
Still in relation to his priorities for action, the diplomat referred to the monitoring of the war in Ukraine “in its many dimensions” and the fight against terrorism, and ensured special attention to transversal and transnational threats to national security, namely in terms of security energy and environment, access to the sea (or space) and emerging technologies (artificial intelligence).
“We must assume that the threats to our partners and allies can also be threats to our security. Therefore, the intensification of cooperative security within the scope of NATO, the European Union or the CPLP (Community of Lusophone Countries) will be a major challenge. priority constant. We will cooperate with the armed forces and with the security forces in the context of the military and civilian missions in which they participate,” he added, after highlighting a point that alludes to the protection of Portuguese communities around the world.
In the round of interventions by the deputies, the socialist Diogo Leão expressed his confidence in the candidate director of SIED and asked him to be available to clarify his future action to parliament.
Subsequently, the Vice President of the PSD Group Andreia Neto recalled that the Social Democrats demanded the resignation of the Secretary General of the Information System of the Portuguese Republic (SIRP), Ambassador Graça Mira Gomes, for her actions in the case in which the SIS has recovered a computer belonging to the Ministry of Infrastructure.
“The prime minister refused the resignation of the secretary general of the SIRP and the PSD lost confidence in the leadership of the secrets,” emphasized Andreia Neto, who also expressed concern at news indicating that the SIED has fewer and fewer resources to perform their safety functions.
Pedro Pessanha from Chega, in addition to the issues of lack of resources and the lack of broad political consensus in the appointment of the new head of SIED, expressed doubts about the professional experience of the nominated director at the level of secrets and advocated that there should be a there is a preference for the diplomatic career over the military career when choosing the person responsible for the SIED.
Liberal Initiative deputy Patrícia Gilvaz also expressed doubts about João Pedro Marinho da Costa’s professional curriculum for the exercise of the functions of director of SIED. But Patrícia Gilvaz, to the surprise of many of those present at the meeting, questioned the appointed director twice about an internal security matter, outside the scope of the SIED, asking him “what would you do in the Galamba case” and whether he would do? agree to restore the Ministry of Infrastructure’s computer.
Faced with the insistence of the deputy of the Liberal Initiative on this issue, João Pedro Marinho da Costa diplomatically referred to the fact that a director of SIED always acts through a “hierarchical channel”.
“We respond to a hierarchy,” he noted in a pedagogical tone, after praising the chairman of the Constitutional Affairs Commission, the Social Democrat Fernando Negrão, for the way he separated political issues during that parliamentary hearing.
Source: DN
