The Foreign Minister said this Wednesday that the NATO Secretary General’s visit to Portugal on Thursday would focus on Ukraine, but would also draw attention to Russia’s presence and “destabilizing goals” in Africa.
“We will have the opportunity to emphasize the importance of looking at the southern flank as well, since it is also clear that at the moment the biggest threat to NATO comes from Russia,” João Gomes Cravinho said on the sidelines of the Portuguese conference. – Angolan Economic Forum, which was held in Porto.
When asked about the purpose of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s visit to Portugal to meet with Prime Minister António Costa, the Foreign Minister stressed that the meeting would take place after the “NATO Country Round” ahead of the Atlantic Alliance Leaders’ Summit to be held in July in Vilnius, Lithuania.
“While Russia is committing a crime of aggression against Ukraine, we see that it also has a strong presence in Africa through Wagner, mercenary groups fueling false information networks, and we will talk about these issues with the NATO Secretary,” he said.
João Gomes Cravinho highlighted the presence of Russian mercenary groups such as Wagner, “the armed wing of the Kremlin”, in the Central African Republic, Mali, as well as in other countries, although “more cautious”, but which are “still dangerous”.
“We fear that it will be present in Sudan, always with destabilizing goals on the side of Russia (…) An unstable Africa is a very big problem for Europe,” the minister stressed.
Along with the presence of Russia in African countries, Joao Gomes Cravinho explained that the meeting will discuss the war in Ukraine, as well as “peace prospects.”
“It should always be a just peace, that is, a peace that is negotiated on terms acceptable to Ukraine,” he said.
Asked if the meeting would help send more Portuguese military equipment to Ukraine, João Gomes Cravinho sent his response to the Minister of Defense, noting that Portugal would continue to support Ukraine “on four fronts.” [política, militar, económica e humanitária]”, although the Portuguese “reserves” are not “unlimited”.
“Our “reserves” are not unlimited. Our ability to continue military support [a Ucrânia] diminishes over time,” he added.
On Monday, the Atlantic Alliance announced the visit of the NATO Secretary General to Portugal to meet with the Prime Minister, and a joint press conference is scheduled.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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