Santa Margarida, Portugal, May 15, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's Army, through the Mechanised Brigade, on Thursday certified in Santa Margarida (Constância) a multinational rapid reaction force of the European Union (EU) to respond to international crises and "defend the values of freedom and democracy" in the EU.
"This force is commanded by Portugal and is made available to the EU within a framework of principles and values that the countries that comprise it defend, and it is to defend this framework of principles and values of democracy, humanity and freedom that this force will be employed," the Chief of Staff of the Army (CEME) told Lusa today.
Highlighting the importance of the joint exercise of a multinational force that the Portuguese Army will command for the first time through the Mechanised Brigade, General Mendes Ferrão stated at the end of the Orion exercise, which took place at the Santa Margarida Military Camp (CMSM) in the district of Santarém, that the rapid reaction force will not take on combat missions before the crisis has been stabilised.
"This force is for stabilisation missions and crisis response operations [in international conflict or crisis]. He said it is neither designed nor authorised to engage in high-intensity combat.
The Orion25 exercise, which has been taking place since 5 May at the CMSM and involved 1,700 military personnel from five countries, aimed to "exercise the integration and interoperability between the forces participating in the Battelgroup commitment" (EUBG), and to certify the force's readiness to respond to "the most demanding type of operations that may be assigned to it," i.e., prepared to undertake a "crisis response operation in a non-permissive environment," CEME General said.
"It is a large-scale, highly demanding exercise, which above all aims to demonstrate the technical and tactical proficiency, at both individual and collective level, of the forces here, because it is only by conducting these exercises that we can have confidence in the force we can make available to the EU," said Mendes Ferrão.
Orion25, the "largest exercise of the land component" of the European multinational force, involved around 1,700 military personnel and 350 vehicles from five countries—Portugal, France, Italy, Romania, and Spain—out of a total of 2,200 military personnel who make up the rapid reaction force as part of the European commitment.
The exercise, which culminated today with a display of capabilities and resources by all the forces that make up the EUBG and a tactical exercise with live fire involving the main weapon systems, also allowed General Mendes Ferrão to reiterate the Portuguese Army's ability to "honour the commitments" it has made within NATO and the EU, with various forces deployed in different countries and continents.
"We have forces in Slovakia, we have forces in Europe, we have forces in Romania, we have forces in the Central African Republic, we have many military personnel deployed across various continents, and we have made commitments that we are able to fulfil and honour, from start to finish," he said.
Noting that the Army has "various forces at various readiness levels," the CEME reiterated that commitments within the EU do not affect the ability to commit to NATO.
"We are fulfilling our commitments to NATO. The missions in Slovakia and Romania are NATO missions, and they are NATO's most demanding missions. We have forces on standby on the ground, on the front line, we have made a strong commitment to NATO, and this will continue," he said.
"We know the army we have, we know the possibilities we have, and the commitments we have made align with our capabilities," he concluded.
On 1 July 2025, Portugal will assume a 30-day readiness level and, from 1 January 2026 to 1 July 2026, the force's readiness level will be 5 to 10 days with a view to deployment if necessary.
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