What if the troops recruit foreigners like Spain does? Marcelo and the generals agree

The idea is not original. Five years ago, when eight thousand soldiers went missing out of more than 100 thousand troops in the United Kingdom Armed Forces, the British government decided. Further facilitating the entry of foreigners from more than 40 Commonwealth countries into its ranks. In Portugal, more than seven thousand troops were missing – Total should be 30 thousand -, The idea of ​​employing foreigners, like in Spain, Presented in an opinion article in Expresso By Lt. Col. Miguel Machado in Reformation. Faced with increasingly serious problems of personnel in the armed forces, the President himself a year ago, Recruiting immigrantsAfter a committee’s proposal, it brings together dozens of public officials to search Volunteers from Portuguese-Speaking African Countries (PALOP). However, this was never a move that the government generally considered.

Recruitment of foreigners is accepted in many countries like UK, Spain, France etc. Or Denmark. In Portugal, this possibility has already been mentioned, although this is not a path that has been the subject of much public debate. After Expresso revealed, in this week’s edition, Consequences of understaffing in all three branches of the armed forcesMiguel Machado, a lieutenant colonel in the Reformation who came to directfunctional” — a military information site — argues that “Recruiting foreigners is not unheard of”, from, “Many countries in Europe do it in different ways. They fight and die for the countries that welcomed them as citizens of those countries”. Like in Spain, but we’ll get there soon.

Last year, the idea Seek immigrants who wish to acquire Portuguese nationality by providing military serviceA appeared A book released in May by the Independent Strategic Reflection Group (GREI).. GREI, which brings together about five dozen retired general officers, raised the possibility of a return to conscription, but proposed another solution to alleviate the personnel shortage in the professional armed forces: “It would make sense to consider accepting applicants of foreign nationalities to provide services, as is already the case in some European countries such as Spain and Belgium”.