The President of the Republic called a meeting of the Council of State to analyse the participation of the Portuguese Military and Militarised Forces in Peace Operations.

The following information was made public at the end of the meeting:

"The Council of State met today, in the Palace of Belem, presided by His Excellency the President of the Republic, to analyse the participation of the Portuguese Military and Militarised Forces in Peace Operations.

The President of the Republic invited the Minister of State and Internal Administration and the Minister of National Defence to take part in this meeting of the Council of State.

The State Councillors debated the involvement of the Portuguese Military and Security Forces in Humanitarian and Peace Operations, which are currently taking place in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Lebanon, East Timor and, in a very limited measure, five other Countries, as well as the future perspectives for such missions.

In this context, the State Councillors examined the insertion of the referred missions in the external policy and defence plans, with regard to the national interest and to the international commitments of the Portuguese State, and analysed the conditioning factors of the Portuguese participation in humanitarian and peace support operations.