Republiko Slovenijo
mag. Alojz Krapež l. r.
Za
Portugalsko republiko
José Veiga Simao l. r.
The Republic of Slovenia and the Portuguese Republic, further on referred to as “Parties”,
Reaffirming their devotion to the aims and principles of the Founding Charter of the United Nations,
Recalling that the aims and principles of the Paris Charter for a New Europe provides a new dimension to the relations between European countries,
Taking into account the commitments undertaken by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe to promote a larger openness and transparency for their military activities,
Expressing their intention to promote the relations existing between them based on the principles of friendship and cooperation,
Have agreed on the following:
Article 1
SCOPE OF THE AGREEMENT
The scope of this Agreement is to provide co-operation between the Parties on the basis of reciprocity and mutual advantages in the extent of the competencies stipulated by the Slovenian and Portuguese legal precepts.
Article 2
FIELDS OF COOPERATION
1. The Parties will particularly develop the cooperation in the following fields:
a) Talks on Security and Defence Policy;
b) Legal basis of Defence and Armed Forces;
c) Participation and observation of exercises;
d) Military research, armament and equipment standardization;
e) Talks on arms control and disarmament;
f) The problems of building infrastructure facilities for the needs of the army and the protection of the environment in these areas;
g) Exchange of information on the organization, sustainability and in other areas of common interest between both Armies and Air Forces;
h) Organization and training connected with the participation in peacekeeping operations;
i) Social, cultural and sports activities.
2. The Parties may extend the fields of cooperation mentioned in the preceding paragraph of this article by mutual understanding.
3. In order to implement the cooperation in the above mentioned fields, or others, specific agreements or protocols might be established.
Article 3
WAYS OF IMPLEMENTING COOPERATION
The Parties will implement the cooperation in the following main forms:
a. Official and working visits of delegations headed by representatives of the Parties.
b. Consultations and exchange of experience, conferences, staff talks, meetings, symposiums, among others.
c. Negotiations of permanent or temporary working groups.
d. Exchange of information and documents.
e. Visits at components and facilities of the Armed Forces.
f. Cultural and sport events.
Article 4
JOINT COMMISSION
1. In order to implement this Agreement, the Parties will establish a Joint Commission.
2. The aim of this Joint Commission will be the development and following up of the cooperation established in the framework of this Agreement, namely through the preparation, coordination and realization of the annual plan of co-operation activities.
3. The Parties will prepare the status of the Joint Commission, where the financial, logistic and technical aspects of this Agreement will be reflected.
Article 5
PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION
1. The Parties will protect information gained in the course of cooperation on the basis of this Agreement.
2. None of the Parties will disclose classified information to anyone that is not taking part in this Agreement, unless it possesses a written consent of that Party which had provided that information.
3. The information exchanged in the terms of the paragraph above of this article will be handled in accordance with the procedures of the country of the receiving Party.
Article 6
COMMITMENTS OF THE PARTIES RELATED TO OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
This Agreement will not affect the commitments of each Party related to other international agreements.
Article 7
SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES
Disputes that arise between the Parties while cooperation resulting from this Agreement is in progress, shall be resolved by Parties themselves through mutual consultation within the Commission and will not involve the intervention of a third Party.
Article 8
FINAL PROVISIONS
1. This Agreement will last for a period of five years and will be automatically extended for periods of one year, unless any of the Parties will notify the other Party of its intention to denounce it, at least six months before the expiring period of validity.
2. The specific agreements or protocols established in terms of Article 2 will maintain its effectiveness and will be carried on in accordance with their provisions.
3. This Agreement may be changed by mutual consent of the Parties. The changes must be in a written form and they must be approved by the procedure mentioned in Article 9.
Article 9
ENTRY INTO FORCE
This Agreement will come into force on the day of the last notification about the fulfilment of the constitutional formalities required by each Party.
Done in Ljubljana, on 16th September 1998, in two originals in Slovenian, Portuguese and English, all texts being equally authoritative. In the case of potential differences in interpretation of the Agreement, the English text shall prevail.
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