Portugal
slams Rutte for ‘regrettable’ claim that Lisbon downplays Russian threat
NATO
Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks to the press on Oct. 1, 2026 in Münster,
Germany | Hesham Elsherif/Getty Images
November
10, 2026 7:02 pm CET
By Victor Jack
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%.
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