The prime minister stressed on Wednesday that it is up to the naval chief of staff to ensure discipline and order in his armed forces and that an investigation has been launched into soldiers who refused to carry out a mission.
This position was announced at the end of the 34th Luso-Spanish Summit, in Lanzarote, in the Canary archipelago, after facing the case of 13 soldiers who refused to board the ship Mondego due to lack of security conditions.
Regarding this matter, the chief of the executive noted that “an investigation is open on the part of the Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy, Gouveia e Melo,” which should ensure the discipline, order and preparedness of all armed forces. are under your command.”
António Costa later stressed that the “Portuguese Armed Forces are ready to carry out any mission, anywhere”, with air force and navy contingents in the Baltic Sea, “helping to protect NATO’s northern border”.
“We have Portuguese forces in the Central African Republic as part of United Nations and European Union training missions,” he added.
On Tuesday, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said in Peniche that he was waiting for the results of the investigation into the episode of the refusal of naval personnel to board the NRP Mondego and defended a strengthening of maintenance in the armed forces. Forces.
In a note sent to the Lusa agency on Monday, the navy said the 13 soldiers who refused to board the ship Mondego “failed to fulfill their military duties, usurped functions, powers and responsibilities that were not inherent in the respective posts and positions” and directed “the discipline and consequences” to be applied after the facts have been “examined in detail”.
According to a document prepared by the 13 soldiers in question, which Lusa had access to, the ship Mondego was instructed on Saturday night to “follow a Russian ship north of Porto Santo”, at a time when weather forecasts “pointed to waves of 2.5 up to 3 metres”.
According to these 13 soldiers, the commander of the NRP (Ship of the Portuguese Republic) Mondego himself “assumed for the garrison that he was not comfortable leaving with the technical limitations” of the ship, which included a motor and an electric drive generator does not work.
The navy confirmed in a note to the Lusa agency that the NRP Mondego had “a malfunction in one of its engines”, but said the mission to be carried out was “short in duration and close to the coast, with good weather conditions. – oceanographic conditions”.
That branch of the armed forces added that the ship’s commander reported that “despite the stated limitations, it had safe conditions to carry out the mission”.
On Tuesday, an official Navy source told the Lusa agency that the 13 soldiers who refused to board the NRP Mondego will be subject to internal disciplinary procedures and that information about this incident has been sent to the military judicial police.
Shortly after the incident, an inspection of the safety of the ship Mondego was ordered.
Source: DN
