The President of the Central African Republic (CAR), Faustin-Archange Touadéra, praised this Friday the successive missions of the Portuguese military in his country within the framework of the United Nations, considering that they have made a “substantial contribution to stabilization and peace.”
Faustin-Archange Touadéra set out this position at the start of a meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, which took place at the Presidential Palace in Bangui, and the first minutes of which were made public.
“Thanks to the presence of Portuguese troops, we have made progress in stabilizing the country. Our concern is peace. The presence of your soldiers integrated into the multinational force was important,” he said.
Portugal has been part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) since 2017.
After a stop in Sao Tome, António Costa was met at the airport by Central African Prime Minister Felix Molua, who was accompanied by the CAR ministers of defense and foreign affairs, as well as military authorities from the CAR.
A brief meeting that preceded the meeting with the CAR head of state and in which, according to a national diplomatic source, members of the Bangui executive asked Portugal to intervene to restart the European Union’s training mission.
In December 2021, the European Union froze its military training missions with the support of the Logistics Mission, which also supports soldiers deployed as part of the United Nations Mission (Minuska) and the EU Training Mission.
Last October, the last 130 soldiers of the French logistics mission left the CAR after 62 years of continuous presence. France accuses the Bangui authorities of ties to a private group of Russian mercenaries, Wagner, linked to President Vladimir Putin.
On his third visit to the Portuguese forces on a mission to the CAR, following visits in 2017 and 2021, António Costa arrived in Bangui late in the morning, accompanied by Defense Minister Elena Carreiras.
Before meeting with the Portuguese military on duty in that country, António Costa will also meet with Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Valentina Sendanoye Rugwabiza from Rwanda.
Like the head of the Central African state, Valentin Sendanoye Rugwabiza also praised the “contribution of the Portuguese armed forces” as excellent and asked António Costa for bilateral cooperation with the armed forces of the CAR.
“We are very grateful to Portugal,” he said, before defending that the European Union should once again put cooperation with the CAR among its priorities, a request he addressed directly to António Costa after saying that the security situation had worsened. improved, especially at the borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Chad.
In response, the prime minister mentioned that the role of the United Nations could play a role in the diplomatic plan for bringing the European Union closer to the CAR, but also noted that there were “differences” between the various European member states.
“In the CAR, Portugal wants to guarantee lasting security,” he said after Valentin Sendanoye Rugwabiza warned that the UN could not extend its presence in the country indefinitely.
According to information released by the General Staff of the Armed Forces (EMGFA), Portugal has a 12th separate national detachment in the Central African Republic, which consists of 215 soldiers.
These forces consist mainly of special paratroopers of the ground forces.
The Portuguese contingent also includes soldiers from other army units whose task is to strengthen the combat capability of the paratroopers, soldiers from the Portuguese Navy and three soldiers from the Portuguese Air Force, who form a tactical air traffic control group.
According to the government, Portugal maintains a permanent presence of the RCA, which is the largest single national force contingent.
“Currently, Portugal is participating with elements in two EU missions and in MINUSCA (UN), counting three missions in the CAR with Portuguese citizens in command positions. The European Union has two missions operating in the CAR: a military training mission (EUTM RCA) and a civilian advisory and observation mission (EUAM RCA) with the participation and leadership of Portugal in both. This is the most important national participation in peacekeeping operations,” emphasizes the Executive Director of Lisbon.
According to EMGFA, in 2022, the Armed Forces deployed 2,427 military personnel in 29 international missions, most of which took place within the framework of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
Last year, with soldiers and assets of the navy, army and air force, “under the operational command of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Portugal participated in 29 missions in the countries of the African, American, Asian and European continents, which involved 2427 soldiers, 89 tactical vehicles , nine ships and eight aircraft.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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