PORTUGAL’S ENETGY CRISIS

 

This Tuesday afternoon Portugal’s President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces António José Seguro will chair a meeting of the Superior Council of National Defence to discuss an impending energy crisis in this country.

The Superior Council of National Defence is a specific collegial body that acts in an advisory capacity on matters relating to national defence and the organisation, functioning and discipline of the Armed Forces.  This body comprises the Prime Minister, the Ministers of State and of National Defence, Foreign Affairs, Internal Administration, Finance, and those responsible for the sectors of industry, energy, transport and communications, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and the Chiefs of the Navy, Army and Air Force.

The Superior Council of National Defence also includes representatives of the Republic and the presidents of the governments of the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira, the chair of the National Defence Committee of the Assembly of the Republic, and two further members of parliament elected to this body by a two-thirds majority.

The president’s announcement came just as energy minister Maria da Graça Carvalho confirmed that Portugal is closing in on the moment at which it will have to declare an energy crisis for which specific measures have just been decided.

It also came after Minister for Foreign Affairs Paulo Rangel reiterated in Brussels that Portugal will not be participating in the conflict in the Middle East – neither militarily nor in the recent capacity suggested by President Trump of “securing the Strait of Hormuz” for the passage of oil tankers. This is a position shared by other NATO members, particularly France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.

In the United States, President Trump has reacted harshly to the stance by NATO members not to rally to his call for “a very small endeavour to protect the strait.