The foreign minister announced on Tuesday that Portugal will strengthen its contribution in the framework of NATO’s support to Ukraine, without specifying amounts, which will be discussed in Bucharest.
At the entrance to the meeting of the North Atlantic Council that will bring together foreign ministers this Tuesday and Wednesday at the Palace of Parliament in the Romanian capital, João Gomes Cravinho stressed that concrete support would be discussed at a meeting of defense ministers, but guaranteed that Portugal would strengthen its contribution within “the framework of support that NATO provides to Ukraine”.
Asked about concrete measures, Cravinho replied: “I will talk about it during the meeting”.
Gomes Cravinho began by noting that this Tuesday’s meeting returns to Bucharest, where in 2008 a meeting at the level of the heads of state “held a very important summit where the policy of open doors was introduced”.
“That position, that attitude towards Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova remains, NATO’s open doors, and Portugal has always clearly supported that position, which is all the more important this Tuesday now that we have a scenario of an attack by Russia on Ukraine”, he added.
Cravinho was also asked about the view of some analysts that the declaration of the 2008 summit, which opened the door to the eventual entry of Ukraine and Georgia into NATO and provoked strong objection from Vladimir Putin, who attended that meeting was present, it would have been a mistake. Months after this controversial statement, Russia invaded Georgia.
“What I think happened in 2008 is that several, including the administration at the time [George W.] Bush, tried to promote the idea of Ukraine joining. It did not go that way, the idea of open doors remained, that is, the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO in a future that did not have a certain time horizon,” he replied.
According to Gomes Cravinho, “it is very difficult to say that Russia’s invasion has to do with Ukraine’s non-compliance with NATO”.
“I think there is no justification for the invasion of Ukraine, there was no threat to Russia’s security, and what was done in 2008 certainly does not pose a threat to Russia,” he stressed.
After NATO’s Secretary General admitted this morning that Europe must be prepared to accept more refugees from Ukraine, Gomes Cravinho stressed that Portugal has already taken in some 53,000 Ukrainian refugees and has some 5,000 children in schools. However, Portuguese hopes that these citizens can soon return to their country of origin.
When asked whether Portugal should recognize Russia as a state promoting terrorism – a recommendation to the government that Chega has already made to the Assembly of the Republic in response to the European Parliament’s non-binding resolution to that effect – Gomes replied that this is a matter that is not up for debate.
“This is an issue that has been discussed in the European Parliament, it is not even a discussion at the European Union table, let alone at the NATO table, it is a subject that is not being discussed at the moment,” he said . underlined.
Regarding the goal requested by NATO from the Allies to reach 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in military spending, Gomes Cravinho stated that Portugal is honoring the commitments made by the country.
“Now the current situation in Ukraine needs an immediate response that has nothing to do with GDP percentage targets. It has to do with political, military, financial and humanitarian support. On all these fronts, Portugal has shown generosity and dedication and so it will continue,” he underlined.
NATO foreign ministers are in Bucharest this Tuesday on the first day of the North Atlantic Council meeting, where they are to agree on ways to increase support for Ukraine and meet “China’s challenges”. analyze. The foreign ministers of Finland and Sweden, two countries awaiting ratification, were invited to officially join the Alliance.
During an informal working dinner on Tuesday at the end of the day, closed to the media, ministers will also have the presence of Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to discuss the country’s most urgent needs and support of long-term NATO.
Source: DN
