The president of the republic said on Tuesday that he is waiting for the results of the investigation into the episode of refusal of naval personnel to board the NRP Mondego and defended a strengthening of maintenance in the armed forces.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke to journalists at Praia de Supertubos, in Peniche, where an elite World Surf League competition takes place.
“I have, as you can imagine, followed everything that is going on, in contact with the Minister of National Defense, and on the one hand, an inspection is underway, which should have started today, with a team going to Madeira and who arrived there today, to check what is going on with the ship, and on the other hand, the determination of the reason for the military’s attitude, who have presented a number of reasons to substantiate their position,” said the head of state.
“As for the episode, the investigation is ongoing, let’s see the results,” he added, refusing to comment for now on the behavior of the soldiers who refused to board the NRP Mondego, which failed in the monitoring mission of a Russian ship north of the island of Porto Santo, Madeira.
Regarding this episode, the head of state and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces defended that “maintenance is one of the priorities in the present and in the near future” of military equipment.
When asked if there was any indiscipline on the part of the army that refused to board the NRP Mondego on Saturday night, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied that this is “one of the elements of the ongoing investigation”.
The President of the Republic also declined to comment on the condition of the Mondego ship for now: “Well, I just said that the Inspectorate will examine the facts and assess the exact situation of the ship”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa referred that “the 2023 budget has already significantly strengthened maintenance – which, by the way, is common to all branches of the armed forces, not only in the navy, the need for maintenance” – and that “the military programming law that is in preparation , will strengthen funding for maintenance”.
“As we know, and as the minister [da Defesa Nacional, Helena Carreiras] just a few days ago he said in an interview that without maintenance there is a risk of obsolescence and thus the degradation of military capabilities, hence the importance given to maintenance at all levels,” he stressed.
Asked if he believes that there is a lack of investment in the armed forces, the president of the republic stated that on this matter he agrees with what the defense minister said, “that in terms of maintenance it was necessary to funding, as it is maintenance in the Navy, but it is maintenance in the Army and it is maintenance in the Air Force”.
Source: DN
