Latest news and stories about defense spending in government in Portugal for expats and residents.
The Ministry of Defence has reaffirmed that the acquisition of three FREMM EVO frigates from Italy was a direct intergovernmental deal without political intermediaries. The company NTGroup (NTG) also clarified that it did not participate in final negotiations and is not seeking any commission from the Portuguese State. This follows recent parliamentary inquiries and public scrutiny regarding the procurement process.
The political party Chega (Chega) has requested a Public Prosecutor's inquiry and parliamentary hearings regarding the government's purchase of three Italian frigates. The party is calling for Minister of National Defence Nuno Melo and representatives from the Portuguese company NT Group to testify, citing concerns over a 25% price difference and potential corruption.
Chega ("Enough") is a Portuguese far-right populist party founded in 2019 by André Ventura. It positions itself as an anti-establishment movement against what it calls a "rotten and corrupt system" of PS-PSD dominance. The party surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest force with 60 seats. Chega's core platform emphasizes strict immigration control—ending automatic CPLP residency, deporting non-independent immigrants, implementing job-market quotas, and requiring five-year social security contributions before benefit access. It advocates radical constitutional reform, including reducing parliament to 100 members, abolishing the prime minister position for a presidential system, and dismantling public healthcare. Law-and-order policies include life imprisonment and chemical castration proposals.
The party is defined by inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric, with Ventura convicted multiple times for discrimination. Chega maintains international alignments with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen, Santiago Abascal, and Matteo Salvini. Mainstream Portuguese parties, including Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's government, have imposed a cordon sanitaire, refusing coalition with Chega despite its parliamentary strength.
Nuno Melo is the president of CDS-PP (Centro Democrático e Social – Partido Popular), a Christian democratic party in Portugal. In the story he linked Chega's position to socialism, compared André Ventura to Donald Trump, and urged party members to vote 'in conscience' in the presidential runoff on the 8th, a stance that could affect centre‑right voters.
The Portuguese government is moving forward with the 3.9 billion euro acquisition of three FREMM EVO frigates from the Italian company Fincantieri. While officials anticipate a significant return for the national economy, representatives from the domestic defence industry have expressed uncertainty regarding the extent of local participation in the project.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro arrived in Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit, where he confirmed that Portugal has met the alliance's 2% defense investment target. The government emphasized that this spending increase was achieved without compromising national public accounts. Officials stated that the summit serves as a platform to reaffirm alliance unity and the strategic importance of the Atlantic region.
Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves (born February 16, 1973, in Porto) is a Portuguese lawyer and center‑right politician who has served as Prime Minister of Portugal since April 2, 2024. A long‑time member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), he is the leading figure of the post‑Troika generation of Portuguese conservatives. Montenegro was elected to the Assembly of the Republic in 2002 for the Aveiro district and remained an MP for 16 years, becoming PSD parliamentary leader from 2011 to 2017 during the bailout and austerity period under Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho. He was a prominent defender of strict austerity measures, arguing in 2014 that “the life of the people is no better, but the life of the country is a lot better,” a phrase that has followed his public image since. After an unsuccessful leadership bid against Rui Rio in 2020, Montenegro won the PSD leadership in 2022. He then forged the centre‑right Democratic Alliance (PSD–CDS‑PP and allies), which won a plurality of seats in the 2024 legislative election. Refusing to partner with the far‑right Chega, which he has called “often xenophobic, racist, populist and excessively demagogic,” he formed a minority government as head of the XXIV Constitutional Government on April 2, 2024. His first government fell in March 2025 after a no‑confidence vote linked to a conflict‑of‑interest affair, but fresh elections saw the Democratic Alliance increase its seat share, allowing Montenegro to return as prime minister leading the XXV Constitutional Government. His importance to Portugal lies in attempting to re‑center the traditional centre‑right after the crisis years, defending liberal‑conservative economics and EU alignment while drawing a sharp line against formal cooperation with the radical right, thus shaping how Portuguese democracy manages its new multi‑party era.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Organização do Tratado do Atlântico Norte or OTAN) is a 32-member alliance facing pressure to intervene in the Strait of Hormuz to secure maritime routes. Disagreement among members regarding this military involvement has led to warnings about the organization's future stability. Portugal has been a member since NATO's founding in 1949 and hosts a major Joint Force Command in Oeiras.
Minister of Defence Nuno Melo announced that Portuguese industries will secure an 8.3% participation in the 3.9 billion euro contract for three new Italian frigates, representing a significant investment in the national economy.
Portugal's defense sector is experiencing significant growth, driven by increased NATO integration and a strategic focus on economic development within the arms industry.
Belgium and Czechia receive their first SAFE payments, having obtained a disbursement of 1.2 billion and 309 million respectively, corresponding to the first 15% tranche of the European loan programme for military equipment purchases. With these two disbursements, the Commission has allocated almost 13.5 billion euros in pre-financing to eleven Member States.
Of the eleven NATO member states that, besides the US, operate or have operated F-16s, nine have already purchased F-35s, to which are added four others that, despite never having operated F-16s, have also done so.
Former Defence Minister João Gomes Cravinho warns that it would be “a serious mistake” for Portugal to buy F-35 fighter jets from the United States, arguing that this option implies “creating a dependency on an ally whose future path is very uncertain”. “I have no doubt that it would be a serious mistake for us to bet on the F-35”, argued João Gomes Cravinho, in...
Saab will only present a proposal for the F-16 renewal once the official process begins, allowing the Government to make an assessment based on facts and clear requirements. In the race for a deal that could be worth more than five billion euros, Dassault Aviation already presented a proposal in July.
According to the decree-law establishing the governance model for the loan granted to Portugal under the SAFE framework, “the Loan Agreement to be concluded between the Portuguese State and the European Commission shall enter into force after the issuance of the prior visa by the Court of Auditors.”
The acquisition of new frigates will be financed by loans from the European Peace Facility. The law establishing investment for the Armed Forces will have to be reviewed this year.
If national governments are forced to finance increased military spending through their own budgets, they will have to raise taxes, increase public debt, or reduce spending.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (CEMGFA) argues that the process of acquiring equipment through European SAFE loans is “crystal clear” in the law, downplaying controversies such as the one related to the frigates for the Navy.
The European Commission wants to leverage surpluses from the 150 billion euro SAFE programme to revive two projects considered priorities for European defence: one aimed at building an air shield and another for anti-drone defence, according to two diplomats who spoke to Euractiv. Brussels estimates that the amount available will be between...
The United States has again pressured European allies regarding defence spending and access to their military bases as part of a review of the American military presence in Europe, which could determine the future size of United States troops and capabilities on the continent, and which aims to accelerate the transfer of responsibilities to...
The U.S. will examine European defense spending and military access as part of its review of American forces in Europe, said deputy Pentagon chief Elbridge Colby.
Portugal will acquire 75 tactical vehicles for the Navy Marines, with a total investment of 133 million euros, funded by the European SAFE instrument and through a cooperation agreement with Spain. The Ministry of Defence expects delivery between next year and 2029. The agreement will be formalised this Thursday via a memorandum of understanding at the Forte de São João Batista in Porto, defining the terms of cooperation between the two countries for the purchase of VAMTAC vehicles. The agreement will be signed by Rear Admiral António Mateus, Portugal's Deputy Director-General for Armaments, and Spain's Secretary of State for Defence, María Amparo Valcarce García, in the presence of the Defence Ministers of both countries, Nuno Melo and Margarita Robles Fernández. The vehicles, manufactured by the Spanish company Urovesa, will feature significant integration of the national industry. The Ministry of National Defence informed Lusa that the choice of this model is due not only to meeting technical and operational requirements but also to the Army's previous experience, as it already operates over a hundred of these vehicles, thus allowing for the optimisation of existing capabilities. This investment is part of a broader plan in which Portugal expects to spend 5.8 billion euros on re-equipping the Armed Forces, using funding approved by SAFE, which offers European loans at favourable rates to be executed by 2030.
João Almeida (CDS) says the Government is “interested” in providing clarification. Luís Dias (PS) states that the process raises several questions, while Luís Paulo Fernandes (CH) criticises the process to Ventura.
An analysis of the factors contributing to the 150 million euro budget overrun for the acquisition of new frigates by the Portuguese state.
Three billion nine hundred million euros. Written out like that, it seems even more. When talking about modern warships, the amounts are always astronomical – and it is not because of the hull. What makes the difference are the electronic systems and the weapons. The price of the FREMM EVO frigates that Portugal will acquire from the Italian shipyard Fincantieri proves just that. CNN Portugal presents, first-hand, the equipment that will be included in the new ships of the Portuguese Navy.
An overview of the new FREMM EVO frigates, highlighting their advanced anti-submarine warfare capabilities for the Navy.
It is important to know what naval capacity Portugal is acquiring, what the contract guarantees, and what burdens will remain for the future.
The price of the frigates, the alleged intermediation, and the return for the Portuguese industry are at the heart of the parties' doubts regarding the 3.9 billion euro deal.
The party questions the 100 million difference between what Montenegro and Nuno Melo stated and wants to know why they cost more than those of the Italian Navy.
The acquisition programme for three new FREMM EVO frigates from Italy's Fincantieri, valued at approximately 3.9 billion euros, will not include helicopters in the initial package but secures spare parts and the first major maintenance for the three ships around 2035. The Chief of Naval Staff (CEMA), Admiral Jorge Nobre de Sousa, explained that the temporary exclusion of aircraft is due to the extended operational life of the existing Lynx Mk95 fleet. The programme introduces a 30-year logistics and operational management model, ensuring that maintenance and spare parts are pre-acquired. The new ships, scheduled for delivery between 2029 and 2030, will also provide the Portuguese Navy with unprecedented integrated anti-missile air defence capabilities. The project includes upgrades to the Naval Base and the Alfeite Arsenal to ensure all maintenance is conducted domestically.
The three new frigates that Portugal is acquiring from the Italian company Fincantieri for approximately 3.9 billion euros will arrive without helicopters in the acquisition package, as the Navy has modernised its fleet of five Lynx Mk95 aircraft and extended their service life until 2035. The programme does, however, include...
Analysis suggests that Portugal could face a significantly higher cost than Italy for the acquisition of naval frigates that are essentially the same in design and capability.
Expresso questioned Nuno Melo's office about the figures put forward by the Prime Minister for the purchase of the frigates. However, according to the Defence Ministry, it is 'not appropriate' to disclose the values Montenegro referred to because it could 'disrupt' commitments and violate 'commercial confidentiality'. A source close to the Prime Minister guarantees that everything was coordinated.
