According to a note sent to the press by the General Staff of the Armed Forces (EMGFA), this will be the 2nd National Armed Forces deployed in Romania, composed of soldiers from the three branches.
Like what happened in April this year, these soldiers are leaving under NATO’s Tailored Forward Presence mission.
The force, comprising 166 soldiers from the Navy, Army and Air Force, will be engaged in a mission as part of NATO’s “enhanced vigilance activities” to contribute to the Alliance’s deterrence and defense efforts on its southeastern flank.”, the note reads.
The ceremony, which will take place in the Transport Regiment, in Lisbon, will be chaired by the Secretary of State for National Defense, Marco Capitão Ferreira, and will also be attended by the Army Chief of Staff, General José Nunes da Fonseca, among other entities , says EMGFA.
On October 23, at the Army Day military ceremony in Santarém, the defense minister said preparations had begun for the dispatch to Romania of a sniper company and a special forces detachment, “part of NATO’s Enhanced Surveillance Activities”.
On April 15 of this year, the 1st National Detached Force, consisting of 222 Portuguese soldiers, left for Romania to participate in this mission.
The National Deployment Plan for 2022 already envisaged the deployment of a contingent of military personnel to Romania in the second half of the year, as happened in 2021, but this calendar was brought forward at the time due to the context of conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
On the day of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, on February 24, the Supreme National Defense Council met urgently and unanimously agreed to the government’s proposals for the possible participation of Portuguese military assets in NATO’s preparedness forces and provided pending dispatch of Portuguese soldiers to Romania.
The military offensive launched by Russia on February 24 in Ukraine has already resulted in more than 13 million people fleeing — more than six million internally displaced persons and more than 7.7 million to European countries — according to the latest data from the UN, which ranks this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the international community at large, which has responded by sending arms to Ukraine and to impose political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN presented 6,306 dead civilians and 9,602 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, stressing that these numbers are far below the actual number.
Source: DN
