Commissioner Kubilius in Portugal to discuss European Defence Readiness and space policy
European Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, responsible for Defence and Space, is in Porto and Lisbon on 7 and 8 January for his first official visit to Portugal. The Commissioner will engage in several meetings and visits with leading defence and space Portuguese actors.
Starting in Porto, on 7 January, the Commissioner is meeting Minister of National Defence, Nuno Melo, to discuss the European Defence Readiness, SAFE implementation, and more support to Ukraine. Commissioner Kubilius will also participate in the Diplomatic Seminar 2026, hosted by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel. The Commissioner will address Portuguese ambassadors on the future of European defence together with Minister Melo and NATO Deputy Secretary-General, Radmila Shekerinska. In the second half of the day, accompanied by the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, the Commissioner will visit the Engineering Development Centre, the CEiiA, one of Portugal’s leading research and development investors. The Centre develops innovative products in industries including aeronautics, mobility and space.
The Commissioner will continue in Lisbon on 8 January. He will visit the Portuguese Air Force followed by a hearing with Portugal’s Parliament Committees on European Affairs and on Defence. He will then meet with the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, to discuss space policy, and will hold a roundtable with top defence and space stakeholders.
The final meeting will be the Youth Dialogue with students and young innovators at Lisbon’s Tecnico together with Carlos Moedas, Lisbon’s Mayor and former Commissioner for Research and Innovation, and Manuel Heitor, professor and former Portuguese Space Minister, under the topic ‘Challenges and Opportunities for European space and defence’.
Strengthening Europe’s defence capabilities will be a joint effort, bringing together Member States, national defence strategies and actors across Europe’s aeronautics and defence sectors.
Europe has strong space capacities and a culture of working together as exemplified by Galileo and Copernicus but also projects such as the project ‘Atlantic Constellation’, supported under NextGenerationEU, based on a partnership between Portugal and Spain, aiming for a complete satellite-based value chain for advanced Earth observation capacities in defence and sustainability.