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The Defense Minister today admitted the possibility of sending military forces to help Mozambique in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado, depending on what the authorities of that country want, highlighting the experience in the field of training.
“Portugal is available. Mozambique is a sister country of the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries), a country with which we feel close and obviously we are always available. First, it is up to the Mozambican authorities to establish what they consider useful. Portugal is fully available, ”said Gomes Cravinho.
After the presentation of a book by the General Staff of the Armed Forces on missions in the Central African Republic of the Portuguese FND, between 2017 and 2020, at the Amadora Center of the Military Academy, Gomes Cravinho was questioned by journalists about the availability of Portugal to support Mozambique in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
The Defense Minister stressed that “Portugal has multiple valences that have been visible” in the Outstanding National Forces and stressed that Portugal has “a long experience of working with Mozambique.”
“There is also a dialogue with the European Union (EU) and, if there is an EU mission, naturally Portugal would participate, but we have our bilateral cooperation, which will continue and will certainly be strengthened in this area”, concluded Gomes Cravinho.
Prime Minister António Costa communicated with Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi on Tuesday and announced an upcoming bilateral summit between the two countries, in the second half of 2021, in Maputo.
Armed violence in Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, is causing a humanitarian crisis with nearly 2,000 deaths and 500,000 displaced people, without housing or food, concentrated mainly in the provincial capital, Pemba.
The province where the largest private investment in Africa for natural gas exploration takes place for three years has been attacked by insurgents and some of the incursions have come to be claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State since 2019.
