Minister of Defense says he is preparing “legislative package” to respond to the priorities of the Armed Forces – Politics

The Minister of Defense said this Wednesday that the Government is working on a legislative package that it will present “soon” to “respond” to the priorities identified, at the end of a military exercise in which he praised the Army’s “readiness and effectiveness”.

Nuno Melo said that the Government is “working very intensely on a legislative package” to be presented “soon, and which will “respond” to priority challenges such as the modernization of equipment, the capacity to attract and retain human resources.

Without specifying what will be achieved, Nuno Melo listed that the priorities are the “dignification of the FA, the need to provide better conditions with regard to the recruitment and retention of military personnel in the FA, and also former combatants”.

The Minister of National Defense (MDN) was this Wednesday at the Santa Margarida Military Field, in the municipality of Constância (Santarém) to watch the final exercise with live fire from Orion 24, which has involved since April 29 more than 1,400 military personnel from of four NATO countries, being the largest annual exercise conducted by the Portuguese Army.

Recalling that it was there, at the Santa Margarida Military Field, that he spent his “first week in the field, as a cadet at the Santarém Cavalry Practical School”, Nuno Melo praised the degree of “readiness and effectiveness” of the Portuguese Army, in the end of the international exercise Orion 24, highlighting interoperability between NATO countries as essential.

“Interoperability is not important, it is essential. The entire legislative process in the European institutions and the strategy designed within a NATO framework goes towards investments that allow this interoperability, providing the Armed Forces (AF) with much greater effectiveness, particularly in the case of combat”, he noted.

Nuno Melo highlighted “the importance of training and exercise”, considering that they are fundamental to “guaranteeing the effectiveness and readiness of the Army, particularly within the scope of article 5 of NATO”, with 1400 soldiers involved.

As highlighted by the government official, the Armed Forces, “with what they have at their disposal at the moment, are an extraordinary example of effectiveness and readiness”.

Asked about the needs and priorities identified in the FA and what is being done to resolve them, Nuno Melo also said “it is not possible to do in one month what has not been done in eight years”.

The MDN was also asked whether it continues to defend military service as a penalty for minor crimes, having sent statements to the parliamentary committee today, where it will be heard.

“I would consider it disrespectful to contaminate what is happening here today with issues that are lateral”, said Nuno Melo, trying to send explanations to the end of the afternoon at the Assembly of the Republic, a place he considered to be the “right place”.

This Wednesday, the Minister of Defense will be heard in the Assembly of the Republic about his statements about compulsory military service as an alternative penalty for young people who commit petty crimes, a measure that, however, Nuno Melo denied having proposed.