Portuguese military aid to Mozambique to continue despite political crisis

MAPUTO, Mozambique

The Portuguese Defense Minister, João Gomes Cravinho, told the Mozambican president on Tuesday that there would be “continuity” in technical-military cooperation between the two countries, whatever the outcome of the political crisis in Portugal.

“Whatever happens in terms of the government solution in Portugal, there will always be continuity when it comes to the relationship with Mozambique,” Cravinho told journalists today in Maputo, almost a week after parliament voted down the budget.

He explained that the statement was made during meetings with President Filipe Nyusi and Mozambique’s defence minister, Jaime Bessa Neto.

Since Monday, the minister has been in Mozambique to participate on Wednesday in the ceremony to launch the European Union Training Mission (EUTM), which will prepare Mozambican special forces to ensure security in Cabo Delgado the northern region affected by an armed insurgency.

Portugal provides over half of the 140 military trainers in the two-year mission involving 10 countries under the operational direction of Portuguese army brigadier-general Nuno Lemos Pires to train 11 Mozambican companies.

“There is a great national consensus” about cooperation with Mozambique, a “brother country”, Cravinho said, noting that the work that has been done “is appreciated by the entire political class in Portugal”.

On the other hand, the government “continues in full function and will commit itself 100% in executing its commitments until the last day in office”.

The contribution of Portugal is not yet finalised because “discussions are underway” on the mobilisation for the new European Peace Facility (EPF). Still, part will fall “on the shoulders of countries that provide human resources,” so “it is natural that naturally, there is an important part of financial responsibility” of Portugal.

The common costs for EUTM Mozambique, to be covered through MEAP, have been estimated at €15.16 million for the two years.

He said that Portugal has decades of bilateral technical-military cooperation with Mozambique and will always be available for non-executive missions, such as training.

“The immediate conditions of peace must be followed by a commitment to development so that instability does not return” and “when it comes to non-executive missions, Portugal is always available,” said Cravinho.

“When it comes to executive missions [e.g. in combat], the question has never arisen, and I doubt it will ever arise,” he added.

“We aim to create conditions so that this premise will never come about,” with Mozambican troops trained, Cravinho said, hoping that none of his successors “will have to worry about this problematic”.

The current framework programme was agreed about a year ago and deserved a “positive balance” from both the Portuguese and Mozambican sides, said the Defence Minister after the meetings held in Maputo – also highlighting Portugal’s role in mobilising the EU for the crisis in Cabo Delgado.

Part of the military training work will now be carried out under the EUTM, which will “free up resources” from the bilateral Portugal-Mozambique technical-military cooperation for other complementary areas.

In addition to training special forces of commandos and marines, the Mozambique Armed and Defence Forces (FADM) may in the future be complemented with the training of specialised military personnel, such as pilots, and at other levels, such as command structures, planning or logistics.

Since July, an offensive by government troops with combat support from Rwandan troops, later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), allowed for an increase in security, recovering several areas where there was a rebel presence in Cabo Delgado, including the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since August 2020.

The province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorized since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The conflict has led to more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 817,000 displaced people, according to Mozambican authorities.