"We are sure that the defense and security commissions aim to promote world peace and stability, so they should be the banner to display and praise in the face of the challenges of the present and the future", stressed the minister, who was speaking at the opening ceremony of the XXII meeting of CPLP defense ministers, in Luanda.
"The ties that bind our countries and peoples have been intensifying on the basis of respect for each other's sovereignty and independence, in the interest of mutually proficient cooperation," he added.
João dos Santos 'Liberdade' also underlined the importance of cooperation and coordination between the CPLP countries in promoting the security and defense of all and gave as an example the willingness of Angola to send "contingents and logistical support" to Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique.
"When it was necessary, we were and remain ready to help the Member States of the community, sending military contingents and logistical support, when the situation advised us to do so, as was the case of the Angolan mission to support the reform of the humanitarian sector in Guinea-Bissau", highlighted the Angolan minister, the country currently chairing the CPLP.
"And in the Republic of Mozambique, when it was devastated by cyclone Idai and currently in the province of Cabo Delgado, where we have a military component, which is limited only to its actions at the command post of auxiliary information operations for the Armed Forces for the Defense of Mozambique, as well as in the deployment of SADC [Southern African Development Community] Member States Forces in support of the process of pacification and stability in that part of Mozambican territory", he added.
João Ernesto dos Santos recalled that on 29 March, MPs approved President João Lourenço's request for authorization to extend the stay of the Angolan military in Mozambique for another three months.
"In the history of the recent past there are records of coexistence between our peoples who are naturally determined or destined to share a common future of solidarity and mutual aid, facilitated by the language and the defense of common values", he stressed.
João Ernesto dos Santos also stressed that over the 25 years of cooperation in the CPLP's defense sector, Angola "presented multiple initiatives of progressive and mutually advantageous cooperation in the field of defence, with the counterpart ministries and respective Armed Forces" which, concluded, "contributed to cohesion in the performance of our institutions".
The minister also highlighted the holding of the "Felino" exercises, of which two editions took place in Angola, and which aim, above all, to prepare the General Staff of a Joint and Combined Task Force (FTCC), within the scope of the CPLP, to achieve, maintain and optimize the capacity to participate in Peace Support and Humanitarian Assistance missions, at operational and tactical levels.
"They made a valuable contribution to consolidating our community's project", he summed up.
