Portugal slams Rutte for ‘regrettable’ claim that Lisbon downplays Russian threat

Portugal’s foreign ministry on Tuesday slammed Mark Rutte after the NATO chief said that for Lisbon, Russia was a distant and less relevant threat.

“Portugal, its Government and its people have never been in any doubt about which side of history they stand on,” the ministry said on X. “It is regrettable that the NATO Secretary General should speak so lightly on such a serious matter.

“Mark Rutte should know better than to overlook the countries and governments that stand firmly by Ukraine and fully understand the threat posed by Russia,” it added.

Rutte told Dutch TV last week that Southern European countries like Spain and Portugal see Russian aggression as remote.

“Sometimes I tell our allies in Spain or Portugal, who say, ‘It’s far away, and what happens in Russia mainly affects Poland'” that “Russia’s latest missiles take 5 minutes longer to reach Lisbon than Warsaw,” he said.

NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said: “It is clear that all Allies agree that Russia is a threat … and while all governments understand the threat, the Secretary General often highlights for public audiences who may not be as engaged on security issues how very close this threat is to all Allies.”

Since Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, Spain has given €1.5 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, or 0.2% of its GDP, according to the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Support Tracker. Portugal has donated €390 million, or 0.18% of GDP — far below Germany and frontline countries.

However, a Eurobarometer poll taken this spring found that 92% of those surveyed in Portugal saw Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a security threat to the EU, while 82% of those Spain thought the same. The average for the EU was 76%.