The GNR does not explain why, or what specific threats it foresees for October and November, the period for which the Frontex (European Border Agency) has requested an aircraft for patrols in the Sea of the Azores, where its jurisdiction ends at 12 miles . The fact is that the plane, a Beechcraft C-12, has been in service since Sunday and that the situation has caused enormous inconvenience to the armed forces. The Navy and Air Force have surveillance equipment over 12 miles but have not received a request for support from the watch, as official sources have confirmed to DN.
Created in 2004 to support Member States in defending the EU’s external borders, Frontex’s action was most visible in the Mediterranean in preventing migratory flows.
Asked by the DN about what led to this unprecedented request, the GNR points out that this request was made “with the aim of guaranteeing the surveillance of the external border of the EU, namely the autonomous region of the Azores, taking into account the competences that fall to the Unit of Coastal Control (UCC) of the GNR, translated into the Organic Law of the Watch”.
An official General Command source recalls that “the UCC is the specialized unit responsible for fulfilling the mission of the Guards along the entire coast and in the territorial sea, with specific powers of surveillance, patrol and terrestrial or maritime interception along the entire coast and in the territorial sea of the mainland and the autonomous regions”.
It adds that “this specific patrol will take place between October and November, with financial support from the European Frontex Agency, within the framework of EUROSUR (European Border Surveillance System) Fusion Services, with the aim of monitoring the external borders of the EU, increasing the chances of early detection of cross-border crime cases”.
Patrols and operations in the greater part of the sea in the autonomous regions are normally the responsibility of the Navy and Air Force, as the jurisdiction of the GNR ends at 12 miles, as already mentioned.
THE Air Force Clarified that “has not received a request from the GNR for the mission in question”, noting that “the Air Force, in accordance with the law and within the framework of its maritime and land surveillance and patrol capabilities, is conducting missions aimed at entering the strategic space of national interest, the surveillance and control of maritime borders, customs smuggling, drug trafficking and illegal immigration, among others” and in this regard “as of the year 2022 it has already carried out 150 missions, totaling 780 flight hours, involved in C-295M and P- 3C CUP+ aircraft”.
For his part, contacted by the DN, official naval source says he has not received any requests for cooperation from the GNR for maritime patrols and has no connection with that military force in the process.
Assertive in the criticism is Admiral Melo Gomes, former Navy Chief of Staff: “The EU’s external borders in the Azores are ours first and foremost. As such, they are our sovereign responsibility. The principle of subsidiarity must be the rule and Frontex must not override the priority action of states. is to formulate requests for external support in matters related to the sovereignty of Portugal,” he says..
He also believes that “the UCC is being allocated resources that are seriously lacking in the Navy, which has undergone unacceptable cuts in operating and maintenance funds.” According to him, “this situation is yet another entropy for good management of our sea!”.
On the island of S. Miguel, in whose capital, Ponta Delgada, the plane is parked, PSD delegate elected by the Azores tells DN he has “received reports from all over the island indicating some fear with flights near the coast”.
“This episode is evidence of the state’s utter inability to meet its obligations to exercise and defend our sovereignty with its own resources, namely the navy and air force, while fulfilling international obligations of surveillance and protection of borders, in this case the most external of the European Union”, explains Paulo Botelho Moniz.
He recalls that, “in the specific case of the Azores, this is the only part of the country without the SIVICC – GNR Coastal Surveillance System – even after the studies carried out and the millions of euros in available community funds”. He believes that it “represents the sublimation of an incapable government that has not yet succeeded in putting in place this essential system for the security of the country, the people of the Azores and the defense and protection of Europe’s external borders and put into service”.
I conclude that this situation “it is a sign of the security and defense bankruptcy of a government, which is not articulated, the Ministry of the Interior which oversees the GNR with its back to the Ministry of National Defense, assuming an image of weakness and passing on own resources, weakness and operational incapacity, exposed to European partners”.
Air Force and Naval officers on the reservation, but who requested anonymity, made no secret of their outrage either. “Frontex is not allowed to monitor our maritime spaces, because that is to recognize that we have a disability, which in the latter case weakens our sovereignty. This recognition will certainly have serious consequences in several ongoing processes, including the request for extension of the continental shelf, as we admit a priori that we do not have the capacity to protect it,” underlined one of these officials.
Another goes on in terms of what he considers to be the most serious: “By handing over oversight to the EU, we are no longer an independent state. It is a Trojan horse inside. What is at stake is highly detrimental to national interests.”
The relationship between the GNR, still commanded by an army general, Rui Clero, and the navy, now led by Admiral Gouveia e Melo, has a conflicted history and is a symptom of some lack of coordination between Security and Defence. Two years ago, the GNR’s takeover of a mega-boat, the Bojador, put the Navy under martial law and Defense Minister João Gomes Cravinho to take a stand.
Source: DN
