The Chief of Staff of the Portuguese Navy, Admiral Gouveia e Melo, once again defended a military service model that allows young people to be quickly mobilized if necessary, highlighting the importance of "experience" and emphasizing that "our country is our European space" and, in the event of a large-scale conflict and if NATO so "demands", "we will die wherever we have to die to defend Europe".  In an interview with Diário de Notícias and TSF, released this Wednesday, Gouveia e Melo admitted that "we are facing the imminence of a very serious problem in Europe". According to the admiral, Russia's invasion of Ukraine "has changed international behavior", and this "change can be so structural that it can destroy the foundations we have today". "Destroying these foundations, everything we consider guaranteed today, which is security in Europe, NATO, the European Union, which are essential pillars for our security and for our prosperity, can be called into question. Being questioned, in a very troubled world, it is not unimaginable, as it was a few years ago, that we may have to align together, because we are part of an alliance", he said. Gouveia e Melo believes that it can escalate "to a situation that is not at all comfortable and for which we must be prepared, so as not to be caught off guard".  Thus, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces assured that the Navy is prepared for combat and once again defended a military service model that allows young people to be quickly mobilized, insisting that a discussion on the subject must take place.  "What I defend is that we must have a model that allows a rapid mobilization for our young people in case we have to defend ourselves. And this model, this is not in the Navy or in the Air Force, it is a much broader model. Why? Because if we have to defend ourselves, we are all who have to defend ourselves", he said. "I always ask mothers: do they prefer to have their son recruited for a defense with a week of training or a son who over time has been gaining knowledge and gaining experience so that, if one day he has to defend the country, he can do it with the minimum conditions and with the minimum knowledge?", he explained. "If we have to create a national defense force in the event of an invasion, is that the day we are going to think about it or should we prepare our population for it?", he continued. The Chief of Staff of the Portuguese Navy reinforced that he does not defend "the old Compulsory Military Service model", but rather a model of "public discussion to look at the problem" that is "before us" to find "a joint solution", which is "consensual". "Now, we cannot put our heads in the sand and say that this will not happen, because we are here in this little corner and before all of Europe will be conquered until they get here. And when they get here it is no longer worth defending ourselves, is it not? Because otherwise we are not allies of anything. When I say defend our country, it is not our country here in Portugal, our country is our European space. And you can be absolutely sure that if Europe is attacked and NATO demands us, we will die wherever we have to die to defend Europe, which is our common home. After all, we are defending our way of life, democracy, our systems, our economy", he concluded. In the same interview, it should be noted, Gouveia e Melo also revealed that the number of escort missions of Russian ships during their passage through Portuguese waters has quadrupled in the last three years. Read Also: Training ship Sagres docks in Aveiro for a week of free visits (Portuguese version)