Gouveia e Melo rejects that defense spending implies cuts in the welfare state

The former Chief of Staff of the Navy rejected the idea that there should be a dichotomy between increasing investment in Defense and cutting the welfare state, arguing that there should be "guns and butter".

"There is no dichotomy here. This dichotomy, cannons or butter, is a dichotomy that people want to convey, but it is cannons and butter. In this case, the cannons to protect the butter, and, of course, the butter to support the people who are treating the cannons", defended Henrique Gouveia e Melo.

The retired admiral participated this Tuesday in a debate on "Portugal's Role in the World" with the vice-president of the Assembly of the Republic and president of the NATO Assembly, PS deputy Marcos Perestrello, organized by SEDES (Association for Economic and Social Development) young, which took place in a completely full auditorium with people standing at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon.

Without ever assuming a candidacy for President of the Republic - even in statements to journalists, at the end -, Gouveia e Melo was asked whether it will be necessary for Europe to cut the social state to increase the investment in defense that has been requested by NATO and the United States.

"I'm not going to talk about Europe, I'm going to talk about Portugal because that's what interests us. There's no 'or', there's an 'and'. It has to be both. Of course we shouldn't cut the welfare state, because that's what has guaranteed solidarity and European cohesion, which is one of the hallmarks of our society and our positive differential throughout the world," he said.

For Gouveia e Melo, if investment in the military area results in a "more productive and technological economy", the Gross Domestic Product will grow and it will be possible to direct this increase to other areas.

"The Welfare State is not an on-off switch. We spend around 64%, 65% of the State's expenditure on the social area. If we spend 64.5%, the Welfare State will not collapse the next day. We have to find synergies and be more efficient," he said.

On the other hand, he argued, additional funds for Defense can come from other sources besides social spending.

"The State is the one that has to decide this. The government is the one that has to decide this. The state of denial of the problem is what is not a balance at all," he said.

The soldier was also questioned about the possible return of Compulsory Military Service (SMO), which he had already refused in the past, also referring, on this point, the decisions to "the government".

"There is no need for us to move towards mandatory military service. There are other ways to organize ourselves in an equally or more efficient way," he considered.

Gouveia e Melo warned, however, that Portugal currently has around 23 thousand soldiers "and twice as many police officers", suggesting that soldiers who volunteer and spend six years in the Armed Forces be placed on reserve.

"These soldiers, up to the age of 50, with the right incentives, can constitute a reserve. They go about their lives, but in case of need and urgency, they can return to service in the Armed Forces. And they would already have the training", he said, admitting "incentives either fiscal or monetary".

Regarding the war in Ukraine and the attitude of the new US administration, Gouveia e Melo said that Europe received "signs that it ignored" and argued that this space must, above all, increase its willingness to act in the area of ​​defense and security.

"There is a military formula, which is very simple, but which details the power relationship between different powers: it says that power is equal to capacity times will. Does anyone have any doubts that the European Union has a greater capacity than the Russian Federation?" he said.

More than discussing what the percentage of investment in defense should be, Gouveia e Melo called for efficiency.

"We have increased our health expenditure by a significant percentage. Has our health system improved in proportion to the increase in this expenditure? There is clearly a need in the Portuguese State for rationalisation and greater efficiency", he said, warning that, otherwise, "money is being thrown into an endless pit".