Portugal is responsible for 170 million euros of the 12 billion euros that the European Union (EU) will be able to provide to Ukraine until 2027 for its defense, the government said on Monday.
“Portugal accounts for 1.5% of the total. Growth 3.5 billion […] means for Portugal about 170 million euros by 2027, if the entire amount is spent,” Foreign Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho said in Luxembourg.
Speaking to the Portuguese press at the end of the meeting of the heads of EU diplomacy, on the day when the 27 decided to increase the funds of the European Peace Support Mechanism (MEAP), which now stand at about 12 billion euros, by 3.5 billion euros, João Gomes Cravinho assured that this amount, referring to Portugal, “this is what is on the table, this is an opportunity, depending on the need to spend this money.”
“There is not a single finance minister out of 27 who would be happy with the need for us to invest so much money in MEAP, but I believe that all finance ministers and all prime ministers and presidents in the EU understand that these efforts are necessary, given the exceptional circumstances that we are experiencing,” the minister said.
It was after the events of the past weekend, given the movements of the uprising in Russia against the military command, that João Gomes Cravinho also defended “the need to focus on support for Ukraine, military support and an increase of 3.5 billion euros in MEAP, as well as political support that has gone through The 11th package of sanctions, which was approved “in order to combat the evasion of restrictive measures.”
On Monday, the 27 EU member states decided to increase the MEAP financial ceiling by 3.5 billion euros to ensure the sustainability of this tool and ensure the conflict response that was used to deliver ammunition to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“This decision is designed to ensure the financial sustainability of the European Peace Fund. [MEAP] in the long term, to maintain its global geographical coverage and the ability of the EU to prevent and quickly respond to crises and conflicts,” the note of the EU Council says.
MEAP was established in 2021 to support the EU’s military and defense partners with the primary goal of preventing conflict, maintaining peace and strengthening international security and stability.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 plunged Europe into the worst security crisis since World War II (1939–1945).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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