Portugal participated with 1,314 soldiers in international missions in the first half of the year – Observer
Portugal participated with 1314 soldiers in international missions in the first half of the year, with a more significant presence in the Mediterranean, Afghanistan and Atlantic regions, indicates a report.
The numbers are contained in a report on the involvement of Portuguese military contingents abroad for the first half of 2021, prepared by the Directorate-General for National Defense Policy discussed this afternoon in the Defense Committee and to which Lusa had access.
The document in question “presents a current status of the involvement of Portuguese military personnel abroad, including Detached National Forces and Elements, National Maritime Authority (Maritime Police) and Cooperation in the Defense Field” in the first half of 2021.
During this period, “Portugal participated with 1314 elements in international missions, including the elements of the Maritime Police in the framework of FRONTEX”, it reads. According to the report, “there is a balance in terms of presence in international associations, namely within the framework of the UN, NATO, the European Union and in the bilateral and/or multilateral framework”.
There are also “four geographic areas where an increase in national participation was approximated: Mediterranean, Central African Republic, Afghanistan and Atlantic”.
This report also points out that the most relevant national participations from the point of view of the troops took place in “Standing Naval Maritime Group 1”, within the framework of NATO, “whose command ceased on January 18, 2021”, in the Integrated Multidimensional Mission of the United Nations in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and in the “Resolute Support Mission” in Afghanistan, in the framework of NATO.
In the framework of cooperation in the field of Defence, the national commitment “was 136 elements and the training provided in Portugal involved 104 students”.
“The numbers represent defined options, with an express expression of the contribution of the Armed Forces to peace and security missions with geopolitical impacts on four continents. It appears that employment in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the West Coast of Africa and the African Continent corresponds to about 75% of human resources”, indicates this report.
In terms of participation in the United Nations, the most translated national presence occurred within the framework of MINUSCA, in the CAR. Within the framework of the European Union, “a national presence took place in CAR, Mali, Somalia and the Mediterranean, with the involvement of 270 soldiers from the Armed Forces and the Maritime Police”.
As for NATO, the Portuguese presence occurred in the “Mediterranean, in the Atlantic Ocean, in Afghanistan, in Lithuania, in Romania and in Iraq with an involvement of 588 military“. At the bilateral and multilateral level, “the national presence took place in the Atlantic, Jordan, Mali, São Tomé and Príncipe and on the West African coast, with the presence of 191 soldiers”.
According to the document, the branch that had the greatest employment of FA military personnel was the Navy, with NATO missions representing the largest participation. As for the distribution by sex, this participation with participation 86 female and 1228 male elements.
“As for cooperation in the field of Defence, of the 136 soldiers required, the majority was from the Army, Mozambique is the country where the national presence is smaller, followed by Angola”, it reads.