Joao Gomes Cravinho

The Russian army advanced seven kilometers closer to Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut, as well as east of Avdeyevka and northwest of Maryinka, Moscow claims.
Four people were killed in a Russian strike on Kherson, as Russia carried out several attacks in eastern Ukraine over the previous day, Ukrainian local authorities said.

Türkiye, from a geostrategic perspective, is central to NATO and an extremely valuable member since 1952, the top Portuguese diplomat has said, suggesting a closer dialogue between Türkiye and Sweden for the latter's advancement to becoming an alliance member, along with Finland.

Türkiye may respond "differently" to Finland's NATO bid, which will "shock" Sweden, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 29.

"We may respond differently to Finland if necessary. Sweden would be shocked when we respond differently to Finland. But Finland should not make the same mistake," Erdoğan said at a meeting in the northwestern province of Bilecik.

Ljubljana – Defence Minister Matej Tonin received in Ljubljana on Friday his Portuguese counterpart Joao Gomes Cravinho to talk about enhancing cooperation in defence and military matters and in other fields, assessing the bilateral defence and military relations as exceptionally good.

Bled – The need to draw lucid lessons from Afghanistan was emphasised at a Bled Strategic Forum panel on European defence on Thursday, but the panellists said these lessons should draw not just on the last few weeks in Afghanistan, they should be informed by the broader geopolitical situation.

Ljubljana – The defence ministers of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia held an online meeting on Thursday at the initiative of Germany’s Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to exchange views on the German six-month stint at the helm of the European Council and discuss the priorities for next year, when Portugal and Slovenia will take over successively.

Minister of National Defense Nicolae Ciuca was in Portugal for a two-day official visit at the invitation of his counterpart, Joao Gomes Cravinho, to set the main steps for the strengthening of the Romanian Air Force F-16 multirole aircraft fleet by the purchase of the next five fighter jets, the Defence Ministry said in a release.

National Defence Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca will be paying an official visit to Portugal, Monday through Tuesday, at the invitation of his counterpart Joao Gomes Cravinho.