PS challenges Montenegro to strategic agreement on Defense

PS Secretary General José Luís Carneiro challenged the Prime Minister to negotiate with the Socialists a proposal for a “Strategic Agreement for a National Development and Defense Capacity Building Plan” within a defined three-month deadline.

According to the newspaper Público , which cites a letter sent on Friday to Luís Montenegro, the socialist requests a formal hearing to begin this understanding and criticizes Portugal's surprise announcement at the NATO Summit about increasing investment in Defense to 2% of GDP this year and 5% by 2035.

Carneiro argues that decisions of this magnitude require broad political consensus and calls for the creation of a PS/PSD working group.

"I hereby formally propose the opening of an institutional dialogue between the PSD and the PS, with a view to defining a platform for parliamentary convergence on matters of National Defense, particularly with regard to strategic investment," writes José Luis Carneiro.

In the letter, the PS secretary-general writes that such consensus "should be based on structuring principles, shared strategic guidelines and a set of concrete measures", involving the sectors of industry, science, innovation, education and public administration.

José Luís Carneiro proposes the creation of a joint PSD/PS parliamentary working group that, in conjunction with the Government and representatives “from sectors relevant to the matter under consideration”, can present, within three months, a proposal for a Strategic Agreement for a National Development and Defense Capacity Building Plan.

This proposal will then be submitted to the Assembly of the Republic for consideration, according to José Luis Carneiro.

The PS considers that the commitments made by Portugal at the NATO Summit in The Hague “are unlikely to be fulfilled without broad social and political support , to obtain which the Government has done nothing”.

The Prime Minister called both the PS and Chega, which is now the second largest party with parliamentary representation, to São Bento on June 18 to discuss the need to increase investment in Defense .

However, according to the PS's letter, at that meeting "little information was provided on how the resources from this significant increase in public spending on Defense would be used", with the socialists being taken by surprise with the announcement of 5% of GDP by 2035 made days later.