Since the start of the war in #Ukraine, the Russian navy has increased its rotations off the coast of #Portugal. In three years, the Portuguese military authorities have increased their surveillance missions at sea.
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In the midst of the war in Ukraine, the Russian navy is not content with regular incursions into northern Europe. It is also deployed off the coast of Portugal, a NATO member country.
The Portuguese navy has also recorded an increasingly intense transit of Russian ships off its coasts. In a very short time, three warships, two refueling shipsthree scientific research ships and even a spy ship passed through Portuguese waters.
Speaking to euronews, Major General João Vieira Borges wanted to reassure by declaring that these rotations nevertheless remained normal and that they did not constitute not a threat in itself.
For this senior officer in the Portuguese army, these movements do not constitute a demonstration of Russia's power but arise from the current context of war in Ukraine. In addition to the simple intention of moving to other seas, the presence of Russian ships would also indicate intelligence and communications activity, adds this professor from the Military Academy.
“The fact is that we are in the Atlantic and from the Atlantic, [les Russes] can go to the Baltic, and from the Baltic they can also go to the Arctic, so this movement is normal.”
The Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, also confirmed that Portugal was closely monitoring this flow of Russian ships, taking into account in particular Portugal's geopolitical position as a gateway entry into Europe.
“Our response to this is to follow them, control them, maintain them under constant pressure thanks to our constant presence”he told journalists last week, on the sidelines of the arrival of the ship D. Francisco de Almeida at the Lisbon naval base, after participating in a NATO mission to monitor the movements of the ships Russians in Portuguese waters.
“Portugal, obviously, given the extent of the sea that it has, both in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf, must obviously exercise greater vigilance. This is part of its missions, both to protect sovereignty and territorial integrity, and within the scope of its engagement with international organizations, notably NATO.said Major General João Vieira Borge.
The Portuguese Navy carried out 126 monitoring missions over the last three years. In 2022, the year the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, 14 such operations took place. In 2023, this number will triple to 46. And since the start of the year, 66 missions have been accomplished.
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