MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE – SUMMARY

It has become increasingly clear that Europe can no longer rely on the United States as a trusted ally. The Trump administration has distanced itself from Europe while strengthening ties with Russia and “betraying” Ukraine.

This development is of great concern to Portugal and other committed European members of NATO and the European Union. 

On day one of the 61st annual Munich Security Conference, European leaders were stunned by a speech from United States Vice President J.D. Vance. In his address, Vance barely mentioned Russia or Ukraine, despite the war in Ukraine being the central focus of the conference agenda. Instead, he delivered a blistering attack on European politicians, accusing them of “retreating” from their democratic values. He claimed that the primary threat to some of Europe’s fundamental principles came not from Russia or China, but from within Europe itself. He criticised European governments, including Britain, for censoring free speech, failing to control illegal migration, ignoring religious freedom, and avoiding the question of how to resolve the Ukraine war. 

It was clear that Vance had little respect for America’s long-standing European partners. His 20-minute rant was condemned outright by European leaders, sparking a furious backlash. At best, Vance’s tirade was described as “bizarre.”

On the second day of the conference, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky went further, making it abundantly clear that he fully respected and trusted European countries and strongly advocated for the formation of a united European military force. He walked a fine line in trying not to antagonise the Trump administration while emphasising that the defence of Europe was now, more than ever, the responsibility of Europeans rather than the United States within NATO.

“Let’s be honest, now we can’t rule out the possibility that America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it,” said Zelenskyy. He went on to say: “Does America need Europe as a market? Yes, but as an ally? I don’t know. For the answer to be yes, Europe needs a single voice, not a dozen different ones.” 

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, European NATO countries are trying to ramp up their defence budgets from an average of 2.2% of GDP to between 2.5% and 3%. Poland plans to reach 4.7% this year, while Estonia and Latvia are committed to spending 5%. Portugal hopes to reach more than 4% by 2029. 

President Zelenskyy and European representatives want to be present at the negotiations about to take place between America and Russia over the war in Ukraine. A senior Ukrainian official may have a seat at the table, but there is little hope of Ukraine fulfilling its wish to join NATO so long as the United States is a key member. 

Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg was asked whether Europe could participate in the US – Russia negotiations. He responded, “I am from the school of realism and that is not going to happen.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has convened an emergency summit for European leaders in Paris today (Monday) to address the latest confusing and controversial challenges created by President Trump. Only the most influential European countries have been invited to the Paris summit. Portugal will not be represented.

The US president has already spoken with Putin by phone, and a meeting to discuss peace in Ukraine is expected to take place soon in Saudi Arabia between senior American and Russian officials.

Portugal’s prime minister and defence minister recently met in Brussels with their NATO counterparts, expressing deep concern over President Trump’s sudden close friendship with Vladimir Putin and its implications for the security and defence of Ukraine and the rest of Europe. Prime Minister Luis Montenegro emphasised that defence is a political priority and called for a recovery and resilience programme to fund investment in the face of threats in various sectors, particularly regarding vital maritime connections in Portugal.

“We have a war on European territory. We have our defence and security threatened in various areas.” Of vital maritime importance, he said, are the marine cables that connect Portugal with the American continent and pass on to other parts of Europe and beyond. 

Meanwhile, on Friday, the final day of the Munich Security Conference, numerous breakout meetings and sideline discussions were held to address issues raised over the previous two days.  More than 850 participants attended, including some 40 heads of state, 40 foreign minister, 25 defence minister, as well as representatives from think-tanks, NGOs and businesses.  

Written by Len Port

Edited by Catriona Anderson.

HELP FOR DEMENTIA HELPERS

The Alzheimer Portugal organisation is holding monthly Dementia Support Group get-togethers to help anyone looking after a family member or friend suffering from this incurable condition.

 

The English-language meetings are held in Portimao on the third Friday of each month, the next being on, February 21.

 

Under the leadership of Margarida Farreira, head of the Altzheimer Portugal organisation in Portimao and Lago, the meetings run from 11 am to 12.30 am. They offer a opportunity for dementia helpers to exchange experiences thoughts and ideas.

 

The number of people attending these intimate sessions usually varies anywhere between five and fifteen.

 

The Alzheimer centre in Portimao is located at Rua Sidonio Pais, Urb S. Francisco, Lt,2 Loja2 8500-735 Portimao.

 

To attend a session, it is best to contact the organisers by phone (965276690), or email (geral.algarve@alzheinerportugal.org). You could also check the website at www. Alzheimerportyga.org

TOURISM BREAKING ALL RECORDS

Tourism in Portugal reached record levels last year and is predicted to grow even further this year.

Hotels and other types of tourist accommodation welcomed 31.6 million guests in 2024, a 3.2% increase from 2023. Overnight stays totalled 80.3 million, up 4.0%. International visitors accounted for 70.3% of all tourists, according to figures compiled by the National Statistics Institute 

The Algarve, Portugal’s main tourist destination, with its world-renowned beaches and golf courses, attracted an unprecedented 5.2 million visitors. Faro airport was busier than ever, as were the region's golf courses, on which 1.46 million rounds were played, up 5% from the previous year. 

Beyond mainland Portugal, a remarkable expansion of the tourist industry is taking place in the Portuguese autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira. The Azores archipelago enjoyed a record-breaking year in 2024, with 2.9 million overnight stays between January and November, an annual growth of 9.5%, the highest in Portugal overall. April to June remains the best period for the choice activity of whale and dolphin watching. 

Madeira has once again won the accolade of being Europe’s leading island destination. A growth of 8.8% in inbound international visits is predicted for this year and 8.9% next year. While most visitors are from mainland Portugal, hundreds of thousands arrived from abroad.

Tourism generated €58 billion in revenue for Portugal in 2024 and €33.8 billion in 2023. The latter represented 12.7% of the country’s GDP The equivalent was 12.1% in 2022 but just 7.8% in 2021.

The largest group of international visitors came from the UK, accounting for around 20% of total arrivals. Germans ranked a distant second, followed by visitors from the United States. Tourism from Poland and Canada is on the rise. However, there has been a significant drop in the number of Spanish holidaymakers.  Smaller drops were also recorded among tourists from France and Brazil. 

The outlook for growth this year is 9%, according to the Secretary of State for Tourism. While welcoming continued growth, he warned of associated challenges and risks, including the need for a more skilled workforce, advancing the digital transition of companies, and the training of immigrants. Increased tourism will also place greater pressure on resources, particularly water supplies. 

Tourism in Portugal reached record levels last year and is predicted to grow even further this year.

Hotels and other types of tourist accommodation welcomed 31.6 million guests in 2024, a 3.2% increase from 2023. Overnight stays totalled 80.3 million, up 4.0%. International visitors accounted for 70.3% of all tourists, according to figures compiled by the National Statistics Institute.

The Algarve, Portugal’s main tourist destination, with its world-renowned beaches and golf courses, attracted an unprecedented 5.2 million visitors. Faro airport was busier than ever, as were the region's golf courses, on which 1.46 million rounds were played, up 5% from the previous year. 

Beyond mainland Portugal, a remarkable expansion of the tourist industry is taking place in the Portuguese autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira. The Azores archipelago enjoyed a record-breaking year in 2024, with 2.9 million overnight stays between January and November, an annual growth of 9.5%, the highest in Portugal overall. April to June remains the best period for the choice activity of whale and dolphin watching. 

Madeira has once again won the accolade of being Europe’s leading island destination. A growth of 8.8% in inbound international visits is predicted for this year and 8.9% next year. While most visitors are from mainland Portugal, hundreds of thousands arrived from abroad.

Tourism generated €58 billion in revenue for Portugal in 2024 and €33.8 billion in 2023. The latter represented 12.7% of the country’s GDP The equivalent was 12.1% in 2022 but just 7.8% in 2021. 

The largest group of international visitors came from the UK, accounting for around 20% of total arrivals. Germans ranked a distant second, followed by visitors from the United States. Tourism from Poland and Canada is on the rise. However, there has been a significant drop in the number of Spanish holidaymakers.  Smaller drops were also recorded among tourists from France and Brazil. 

The outlook for growth this year is 9%, according to the Secretary of State for Tourism. While welcoming continued growth, he warned of associated challenges and risks, including the need for a more skilled workforce, advancing the digital transition of companies, and the training of immigrants. Increased tourism will also place greater pressure on resources, particularly water supplies. 

 

DEFENCE SPENDING TENSIONS RISE

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has reaffirmed Portugal’s commitment to increasing defence spending to 2.0% of GDP by 2029, but some other NATO countries, particularly the United States, say that is not nearly good enough. 

At the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that countries failing to meet the 2.0% target would have to reach it within “a couple of months”, not years. This was in the face of different threats from Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

Rutte met Montenegro this week in Lisbon, and the Portuguese prime minister said he would do his best to bring forward the 2.0% target date. He later told a press conference that both his PSD-led government and other parties, most notably the opposition Socialists, were strongly committed” to meeting the defence spending goal, but that the deadline would depend on a task force involving the foreign, domestic defence and finance ministries, “which could be extended to other areas of government.” He added that the country’s productive and industrial capacity needed to be increased and enhanced for long-term viability. 

The Portuguese prime minister stressed that the US in particular should be aware that the 23 European Union members of the North Atlantic Alliance collectively already spend more than 2.0% of their GDP on defence. 

“I’m not avoiding the responsibility of Portugal to do this as quickly as possible,” he said, adding that it is necessary to act as a bloc to redefine objectives, policies, and investments to be effective. 

Increased investment in the defence industry will mean greater autonomy for Europe, safeguarding the European economy and, as a result, safeguarding the European welfare state, said Montenegro. 

NATO Secretary General Rutte’s insistence that the urgent increased spending also applied to Spain.  At a meeting with Jose Manuel Albares, Spain’s foreign minister, Albares like Montenegro confirmed his country’s intention of spending 2.0% of its GDP on defence by 2029. 

Foreign Minister Albares told reporters that Spain had been increasing its defence spending “for years”, and it was “getting close” to the 2.0% goal. Spain’s defence budget currently stands at 1.8% of GDP. 

President Donald Trump is expected to increase pressure on European countries for a defence spending rise to 5.0% of GDP, while, threatening to pull the United States out of NATO altogether if they fail to comply. 

In view of the war in Ukraine and the possibility of further Russian expansion, top EU foreign affairs official, Kaja Kallas, told the recent annual conference of the European Defence Agency in Brussels that member states need “to wake up.”

 

The troubles of tariffs

Portugal has called on its United States and European allies to greatly enhance dialogue to avoid US tariffs that could prove harmful to people in all EU countries, especially the least wealthy.

The Portuguese Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento made this appeal on Tuesday, the day after Donald Trump assumed the presidency.

“We will analyse the decisions of the US administration and try to strengthen economic ties,” Portugal’s finance minister told the Reuters news agency and other reporters in Brussels.

“It is necessary to have a constructive attitude of dialogue, but also naturally in defence of what is in the interest of Europe and its member states,” said the finance minister.

Trump has already declared that a tariff of 25% could be imposed on his two neighbours, Canada and Mexico, as early as 1 st February. Increased tariffs are almost certain on Chinese goods entering America. However, nothing definite has yet been announced about tariffs on Portuguese and other European exports

TRIAL SET FOR ALGARVE’S QUINTA DO LAGO RESORT

 

A trial centred on a scandal within the Algarve luxury resort of Quinta do Lago is scheduled to take place on 27^t of this month.

 

The trial will focus on the alleged assault by one senior employee on another last year. David Combrink, a former colleague from Topaz Energy in Ireland, of Quinta do Lago CEO Sean Moriarty is alleged to have physically attacked the Quinta’s former head of security, John O’Gorman.

 

This incident is aid to have been witnessed by other staff members as well as captured by an internal, but since destroyed, camera video.

 

The alleged crime has brought about unwanted attention on the owner of Quinta do Lago, the wealthy Irish businessman Denis O’Brien, who also owns property on the Caribbean island resort of Canouan. in the Caribbean. So his connection with the Quinta do Lago scandal has been of considerable interest to a Caribbean daily news publication, the St. Vincent  Times

 

It has reported that, “Interestingly, Quinta do Lago’s legal counsel, Carmen Baptista Rosa, has disappeared from the case.” She is a director of the Portuguese-British Chamber of Commerce and head of the PMLJ law firm in the Algarve.

 

According to a reliable Algarve source in addition to the St. Vincent  Times, Carmen  Baptista Rosa “somehow” managed to convince the prosecution’s office  that she was representing the plaintiff, not the defendant, It is alleged that she became registered  as the victim’s lawyer in court in order to gain access to all of John O’Gorman’s  criminal filings.  If so, this would amount to a major corrupt breach of lawyer ethics.

 

PORTUGAL AND USA STRENGTHEN MILITARY TIES

Portugal’s close military relationship with the United States has strengthened further with a new bi-lateral announcement this week.

 

Just days before Donald Trump takes over again in Washington, a ceremony took place in the Lisbon offices of the Ministry of National Defence marking Portugal’s accession to the US National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program.

 

Said Portugal’s Minister of National Defence, Nuno Melo in the presence of the United States Ambassador to Portugal,: “I have no doubt that this partnership will strengthen military cooperation between our two countries, intensify what are already excellent bi-lateral relations, and the strong diplomatic, commercial and cultural ties that unite Portugal and the United States.”

 

The new arrangement is despite Donald Trump’s condemnation of low defence expenditures in most European Union countries, including Portugal. Trump has also shown little solidarity with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), of which Portugal is a founding member.

 

As reported by the Lusa News Agency, Nuno Melo emphasised in Lisbon this week that Portugal and the United States are “historic allies” that have contributed to peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic area for the past 75 years.

 

So absolutely no weakening of the alliance seems likely under Trump’s second presidential term. On the contrary, the new arrangement is intended to reinforce military cooperation and comes after threats of further Russian expansion almost two years after its invasion and increasing bombardments in Ukraine.

 

Donald Trump has repeatedly said he will end the Russia-Ukraine war the day he takes over as president. Let’s see what happens on Monday.

 

Meanwhile, the strongly pro-Trump USA-Portuguese community in Fall River, Massachusetts (mentioned in Portugal Newswatch last week), has been reading about the new military partnership program in a Fall River newspaper, The Herald News. It has noted that the program can lead to “joint exercises, sharing of expertise in disaster response, and collaborative efforts to address mutual security and defence challenges.”

 

Created in 1993, the State Partnership Program has been “successfully building relations for more than 30 years, and now includes 105 partnerships with 115 nations around the globe,” according to the United States National Guard website.