On Friday, the Prime Minister visits, for the third time, the Portuguese military in the Central African Republic (CAR), an external mission of the national Armed Forces, within the framework of the United Nations, considered very complex in terms of security.
António Costa was in the capital of the CAR for the first time, in Bangui, in 2017, and returned in December 2021, before Christmas, after a visit he made to São Tomé and Príncipe. This time, António Costa leaves Lisbon today, at the end of the afternoon, accompanied by the Defense Minister, Helena Carreiras.
In Bangui, where a stay of about six hours is planned, the head of the Portuguese executive is received at the airport by the Prime Minister of RCA, Félix Moloua, after which he holds a meeting with the head of state, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, at the Presidential Palace, before meeting with Portuguese soldiers on mission in this country.
According to information released by the General Staff of the Armed Forces (EMGFA), Portugal has the 12th National Force Detached in the Central African Republic, which is made up of 215 soldiers.
This force, made up mostly of special Army paratroopers, is part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Mission for the Stabilization of the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), in which Portugal has participated since 2017.
The Portuguese contingent also includes soldiers from other Army units, whose mission is to reinforce the operational capacity of the paratroopers, a soldier from the Portuguese Navy and three soldiers from the Portuguese Air Force, who form a tactical air control team.
In various public interventions, the Army Chief of Staff, General José Nunes da Fonseca, stressed that the action “has been repeatedly considered relevant -and even exemplary- by the highest Central African authorities, as well as by the most prominent representatives of the Nations, the European Union and other international organizations”.
In addition to security missions, last October, the Portuguese military delivered 470 sets of clothing to children, as well as books and toys. An operation that aimed to “improve the living conditions of children, transmit confidence and joy, and reiterate the support of the Portuguese Rapid Reaction Force to the population of CAR”.
Internally, the most controversial case involving this mission of the Armed Forces occurred on November 8, 2021, when the PJ executed 100 search warrants and made 11 arrests, including soldiers, a lawyer, a PSP agent, and a police officer. GNR guard, after suspicions of diamond, gold and drug trafficking from RCA.
For the President of the Government, this “unfortunate” case does not tarnish the image of the Portuguese military and security forces present in the forces deployed in various parts of the world. He even maintained that Portugal’s performance in this case “has been pointed out as an example.”
“An example, obviously, of a regrettable story, product of the existence of indications of a criminal practice. But the response given by the State and the authorities has been considered an example of action to be taken in circumstances of this nature”, he pointed out. defended
At the political and diplomatic level, the Security Council of the United Nations Organization (UN) recently renewed the mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) for another year, until November 15, 2023.
The CAR descended into chaos and violence in 2013, after the overthrow of former President François Bozizé by armed groups gathered in the Séléka, which aroused opposition from other militias, grouped under the anti-Balaka designation.
Since then, the Central African territory has been the scene of clashes between these groups, which have already forced more than a quarter of the CAR’s 4.7 million inhabitants to leave their homes.
Last October, the last 130 soldiers of the French logistics mission left RCA, after 62 years of uninterrupted presence. France accuses the Bangui authorities of being in league with the private group of Russian mercenaries Wagner, linked to President Vladimir Putin.
France suspended its military cooperation agreement with the Central African Republic in April 2021, and the European Union froze its military training missions supported by the logistics mission, which also supports soldiers deployed in the United Nations mission (MINUSCA) and in the EU Training Mission in December 2021.
In addition to the deterioration of political and diplomatic conditions, there is also a growing deterioration in terms of security. In October, the United Nations reported that three Bangladeshi “blue helmets” had been killed as a result of a bomb explosion in Kaita.
At the moment, a UN investigation is underway into a massacre with dozens of civilians killed, between January 16 and 17 of last year, following an alleged joint operation between the country’s Armed Forces and mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group. .
These episodes have provoked criticism of the presence of national troops in the CAR, but António Costa rejects them.
“Portugal is part of the United Nations and we want to be active partners. With a Portuguese Secretary General [António Guterres]We even have the added obligation to be active partners of the United Nations, we always have been and we will be,” the Prime Minister told the Lusa news agency in December 2021.
And he added: “It is a high-risk mission and, therefore, I decided to return here, be with our military and security forces. And I would like to point out that the President of the Republic [Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa] He has also visited the troops in RCA.”
According to the EMGFA, the Armed Forces committed 2,427 soldiers in 29 international missions in 2022, most of which took place within the scope of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
Last year, with soldiers and means from the Navy, the Army and the Air Force, “under the operational command of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Portugal was present in 29 missions in countries in Africa, America, Asia and Europe “. continents, in which 2,427 soldiers, 89 tactical vehicles, nine ships and eight aircraft participated.
Source: TSF
