Defence policy, military affairs, and NATO commitments.
Brussels appointed Sergio Lino de Almeida Estrela EU Mission Force Commander on 10 September, effective Monday. A separate Council decision taken in May already fixes the end of EUMAM Mozambique at 31 December, and the assessment that decides what follows is due this month.
BlackRoute and Ethiack delivered Digital Sentinel and AI Ethical Hacking to the Cyberdefence Operations Command. Both went into use in June and were validated by ARTE and the European Commission on 31 August.
The Portuguese Army has bought a laser-based force-on-force combat simulator from Sweden's Saab for about €1.3 million, part of a roughly €5 million plan to modernise training. Based at Santa Margarida, it instruments soldiers and weapons to score live exercises objectively.
The Portuguese Air Force has contracted home-grown manufacturer Tekever for AR5 surveillance drones to monitor the country's vast Exclusive Economic Zone, with the first systems arriving in September.
Portugal will borrow €5.8 billion under the EU's SAFE rearmament programme through 2030, Defence Minister Nuno Melo told parliament — pledging an independent oversight structure that gives the Court of Auditors and Public Prosecutor decades of scrutiny over frigates, drones and munitions.
Parliament voted on 17 July to extend free public transport to war veterans across the whole country, scrapping a 32-kilometre limit that stranded those outside big cities. The unanimous measure also covers widows and widowers and ties funding to validated pass usage.
Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel told RTP Antena 1 on Tuesday 9 June that the Acordo das Lajes (Lajes Agreement) governing United States use of the Azores airbase will need revision — but not under the pressure of the current Middle East crisis....
