Ministry of National Defence (Portugal)

The Ministry of National Defence (Portuguese: Ministério da Defesa Nacional or MDN) is a Portuguese government ministry, which is responsible for preparing and executing the national defence policy, within the scope of its powers, as well as ensuring and supervising the administration of the Portuguese Armed Forces.^[1]

Ministry of National Defence

Ministério da Defesa Nacional
Logo of the ministry
Flag of the minister
Headquarters of the ministry, Lisbon
Ministry overview
Formed	1982 (1982)
Preceding Ministry	Department of National Defence Ministry of the Army Ministry of the Navy
Type	Ministry of defence
Jurisdiction	Government of Portugal
Headquarters	Avenida da Ilha da Madeira, Lisbon, Portugal
Ministry executives	Nuno Melo, Minister of National Defence Álvaro Castelo-Branco, Deputy Minister and for National Defence Ana Isabel Xavier, Secretary of State for National Defence
Website	https://www.defesa.gov.pt
Footnotes
Between 1950 and 1982 there was a minister of National Defence, but not a ministry of National Defence, it was given the name Department of National Defence.

Mission

• Participate in the definition of the national defence policy and elaborate and execute the policy related to its military component;
• Ensure and supervise the administration of the Armed Forces;
• Ensure the preparation of the means available to the Armed Forces and monitor and inspect their use;
• Define, execute and coordinate human, material and financial resources policies;
• Coordinate and guide actions related to the satisfaction of military commitments arising from international agreements, as well as relations with international organizations of a military nature, without prejudice to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' own attributions;
• Prepare the Ministry's budget and guide the drafting of draft proposals for the Military Programming Law (LPM), coordinating and supervising the respective execution;
• Support the financing of actions, through the attribution of subsidies and the execution of transfers within the scope of the programs that are committed to it;
• To promote and dynamize the study, investigation, technological development and dissemination of matters of interest to national defence;
• Provide, in order to guarantee, the security of classified matters, either in Portugal or in national representations abroad;
• Perform the functions assigned to it within the scope of the Information System of the Portuguese Republic;
• Provide technical and administrative support to the Superior Council for National Defence and the Prime Minister, in the exercise of their functions, in matters of national defence and the Armed Forces.

Organization

The Ministry of National Defence is structured as follows:^[2]

• Armed forces:
  • Armed Forces General Staff;
  • Portuguese Navy;
  • Portuguese Army;
  • Portuguese Air Force.

• Central services integrated in the direct administration:
  • General secretary:
  • Directorate-General for National Defence Policy;
  • Directorate-General for National Defence Resources;
  • General Inspection of National Defence;
  • National Defence Institute;
  • Military Judicial Police.
• Authorities:
  • Maritime Authority System;
  • National Aeronautical Authority.

• Commissions:
  • Coordinating Committee for the Evocation of the Centenary of World War I;
  • Portuguese Military History Commission.

• Tutored bodies:
  • Armed Forces Social Action Institute
  • Portuguese Red Cross;
  • League of Combatants.

List of Ministers (since 1974)

Colour key (for political parties)
Socialist Party (PS)   Social Democratic Party (PSD)   Democratic and Social Center (CDS)   Independent (Ind.)

#	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Party		Prime Minister
1		Mário Firmino Miguel (1932–1991)	16 May 1974	30 September 1974		Ind.		Adelino da Palma Carlos
–	Vacant office		30 September 1974	3 October 1974				Vasco Gonçalves
2		Vítor Alves (1935–2011)	3 October 1974	24 February 1975		Ind.
3		Silvano Ribeiro (1923–2004)	24 February 1975	19 September 1975		Ind.
4		José Pinheiro de Azevedo (1917–1983)	19 September 1975	23 July 1976		Ind.		José Pinheiro de Azevedo
5		Mário Firmino Miguel (1932–1991)	23 July 1976	22 November 1978		Ind.		Mário Soares
								Alfredo Nobre da Costa
6		José Loureiro dos Santos (1932–1991)	22 November 1978	3 January 1980		Ind.		Carlos Mota Pinto
								Maria Lourdes Pintasilgo
7		Adelino Amaro da Costa (1943–1980)	3 January 1980	4 December 1980		CDS		Francisco Sá Carneiro
–	Vacant office		4 December 1980	9 January 1981				Diogo Freitas do Amaral
8		Luís de Azevedo Coutinho (1928–2016)	9 January 1981	4 September 1981		CDS		Francisco Pinto Balsemão
9		Diogo Freitas do Amaral (1941–2019)	4 September 1981	25 February 1983		CDS
10		Ricardo Bayão Horta (b. 1936)	25 February 1983	9 June 1983		CDS
11		Carlos Mota Pinto (1936–1985)	9 June 1983	15 February 1985		PSD		Mário Soares
12		Rui Machete (b. 1940)	15 February 1985	6 November 1985		PSD
13		Leonardo Ribeiro de Almeida (1924–2006)	6 November 1985	17 August 1987		PSD		Aníbal Cavaco Silva
14		Eurico de Melo (1925–2012)	17 August 1987	5 January 1990		PSD
15		Carlos Brito (b. 1935)	5 January 1990	5 March 1990		PSD
16		Fernando Nogueira (b. 1950)	5 March 1990	16 March 1995		PSD
17		António Figueiredo Lopes (b. 1936)	16 March 1995	28 October 1995		PSD
18		António Vitorino (b. 1957)	28 October 1995	25 November 1997		PS		António Guterres
19		José Veiga Simão (1929–2014)	25 November 1997	29 May 1999		PS
20		Jaime Gama (b. 1947)	29 May 1999	25 October 1999		PS
21		Júlio Castro Caldas (1943–2020)	25 October 1999	3 July 2001		PS
22		Rui Pena (1939–2018)	3 July 2001	6 April 2002		PS
23		Paulo Portas (b. 1962)	6 April 2002	12 March 2005		CDS		José Durão Barroso
								Pedro Santana Lopes
24		Luís Amado (b. 1953)	12 March 2005	3 July 2006		PS		José Sócrates
25		Nuno Severiano Teixeira (b. 1957)	3 July 2006	26 October 2009		PS
26		Augusto Santos Silva (b. 1956)	26 October 2009	21 June 2011		PS
27		José Pedro Aguiar-Branco (b. 1957)	21 June 2011	26 November 2015		PSD		Pedro Passos Coelho
28		José Azeredo Lopes (b. 1961)	26 November 2015	15 October 2018		Ind.		António Costa
29		João Gomes Cravinho (b. 1964)	15 October 2018	30 March 2022		PS
30		Helena Carreiras (b. 1965)	30 March 2022	2 April 2024		PS
31		Nuno Melo (b. 1966)	2 April 2024	present		CDS		Luís Montenegro