The defense secretary said this Wednesday that orders in the armed forces are “non-negotiable” and “only possible” to disobey illegal orders, speaking about disagreements with the military who refused to board the Mondego.
“Orders are non-negotiable. There is only the possibility of disobeying illegal orders. Military discipline is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of missions, even when there is disagreement or in high-risk situations, including war,” the minister said.
Helena Carreiras spoke on the defense commission in the Assembly of the Republic and responded to Rodrigo Saraiva, the leader of the parliamentary Liberal Initiative (IL) party, who demanded a ministerial hearing to discuss disagreements with the 13 navies who refused to go on mission in March on the ship “Mondego”, citing the lack of security conditions.
The minister singled out “two aspects” on this issue: “investment related to the operation of funds, and discipline.”
In terms of investment, Helena Carreiras highlighted “the growth of two government budgets and the proposed Defense Programming Act (LPM), which represents the largest investment in the sector ever.”
“Several acquisitions are planned for the latter: maritime and coastal patrol vessels, tankers, multi-purpose logistics vessels, survey vessels and speedboats. Of the eight structural projects, three are for the Navy,” he said, adding that the amount in excess of the 800 million euros allocated to support and modernize the Navy.”
On the issue of discipline, Helena Carreiras confirmed, as she had already stated publicly during the dispute, that “it is unacceptable what happened on March 11 when the NRP Mondego was on standby for two hours and was in safe conditions to navigate.” , after evaluating who had these skills, according to CEMA [Chefe do Estado-Maior da Armada, almirante Gouveia e Melo] already clear.”
The Minister stressed that “such behavior of seafarers called into question the hierarchical chain.”
“The Armed Forces, a special body of the state with special rights and duties provided for by the Constitution and the Regulations on Military Discipline, are obliged to carry out activities based on the military values of the mission, hierarchy, cohesion, discipline, security and obedience to the governing bodies. sovereign powers in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the law,” he stressed.
Helena Carreiras added that “there are a number of basic principles and rules of conduct in carrying out the tasks entrusted to the armed forces, and military leaders have the duty to ensure compliance with the Military Disciplinary Regulations, namely the prompt and accurate performance of military duties, as well as the instructions of superiors”, understanding , which in this case “that’s what happened.”
The Mondego controversy dates back to March, after the Navy was unable to escort a Russian ship north of Porto Santo, in the Madeira archipelago, after 13 troops refused to board, citing lack of security conditions.
The episode led the navy to conduct an inspection of the NRP (Portuguese Republic ship) Mondego, which concluded the mission “was achievable safely” and to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the mutinous military, whose charges will be those targeted on Thursday .fair.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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