The new Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral Jorge Nobre de Sousa, defends the reinforcement of resources in the Azores.
In an interview with the weekly “Expresso”, asked if Portugal can protect the Azorean maritime space, Jorge Nobre de Sousa replied that “the risks have different frameworks, whether in Greenland or the Azores, but there is one issue that international relations have shown us: there are no power vacuums”.
“If we don’t occupy the space that is our duty by virtue of sovereignty, someone else will, with a greater likelihood of us being depredated and the risks increasing. We have to have mechanisms that allow us to exercise the authority of the state in maritime spaces. There are countries that, in terms of responsibility, are unable to carry out search and rescue. The Navy and the Air Force will have to play an important role in this regard,” he said.
Asked if the way forward is to reinforce “the device in the Azores, in Terceira, with a frigate permanently, plus a patrol ship and a P3 Orion surveillance plane”, the Chief of Staff of the Navy replied: “Next year I intend to start, periodically, on a trial basis, to have a frigate which will be, in principle, the ‘Álvares Cabral’, due to its current configuration, at certain times in the Azores”.
He explained that the Navy used to have two corvettes permanently in the Azores. “In the meantime, the corvettes have reached their age and have been written off. At the moment, my fleet of ocean patrol vessels is not yet robust enough to have two ships permanently in the Azores, but next year I intend to start using a model in which there are periods with a frigate and then an ocean patrol vessel. It would be an excellent sign if I managed to have two ships there permanently at the end of my term,” he continued.

In the same interview, he added, “it would be very important to have the possibility of receiving a submarine there, especially if we have more submarines”.
The new Chief of Defence Staff also spoke about NATO’s current situation and investment in defense. “Obviously, any military commander will always want to have all the means he considers necessary to fulfill his mission. But only a privileged few have them. Most military commanders have to operate, plan and respond to what is determined by political power. When I took command, I received a Navy that was designed and planned to be built with a coherent set of capabilities that will meet the needs of the Atlantic Alliance,” he said.
The admiral added that “society is starting to become aware of the importance of financial reinforcement in the area of Defense” and that “whoever the government will be, it will have to take this type of commitment seriously”.

In Diário Insular – José Lourenço, director.

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