By Asemana
Africa-Press – Cape verde. Mindelo, Cape Verde, 06 Nov 2023 (Lusa) – Cape Verde is developing a new Strategic Defense Concept, 12 years later, which presents national and global risks and threats and foresees several actions, including an agreement with NATO , was presented today.
The project for the new Strategic Concept of National Defense was presented in the city of Mindelo, island of São Vicente, by retired Brigadier General Antero Matos, who highlighted that the document is being prepared by a working group taking into account the major changes and transformations in the country and the world in the last decade.
Among several planned actions, the document foresees the possibility of the archipelago concluding an agreement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), said the former chief of staff of the Armed Forces.
On October 26, the Cape Verdean Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, met with the organization’s general secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, and considered that “good partners and good allies” are necessary for collective security.
Correia e Silva highlighted that Cape Verde has relations with European countries and the United States in the field of defense and security, particularly maritime security, and that most of these countries are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
In the presentation, Antero Matos added that the new Defense Strategy Concept, drawn up 12 years after the last version, also aims to promote greater connectivity between the country and abroad and progressively enable Cape Verde’s financial system to position itself as a regional center.
It also intends to consider Cape Verde’s option in the insertion of cooperative security mechanisms, both on the continent and in the African sub-region, and to develop partnerships with developed countries to reinforce security and defense in the face of threats in the mid-Atlantic and tensions.
In her intervention, the Minister of Defense, Janine Lélis, recalled that the current version of the National Defense Strategic Concept was approved in 2011 and that the sector’s major options date back to 2005, which is why she considered it “urgent” for the country to inaugurate a new cycle of strategic planning, with approval of new sectoral and guidance instruments.
“Over the past few years, we have realized the seriousness of situations that can shake the world, as well as the variety of causes and threats that have undermined many convictions and shaken solid models of organization and development”, he described.
For the minister, given the current scenario in the world, States are urged to take a closer look at defense and national security issues.
“Because of this, countries are obliged to review their national strategies, convening debates, involving citizens, public and private institutions and all civil society, calling on them to make their contribution, always taking into account the interests of their respective people”, he continued.
Janine Lélis highlighted that the current threats assume a transversality that calls for a “concerted and strategic action”, meaning that the Strategic Concept, which is yet to be taken to parliament, is a “synergy” between all Defense actors, but also the environment, the sea, transport, health, education, the economy.
The document was presented on National Defense Day, established after the dengue epidemic in the country in 2009, in which the involvement of the Armed Forces, other security institutions and non-governmental organizations was decisive in controlling the disease.
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