Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos n.º 12 - Año: 2018 - Págs.: 299 a 323 311 Luis Manuel Brás Bernardino & Álvaro António Moreira dos Santos The portuguese... in support of liberal democracy, good governance, human rights and the training of developing States and/or those emerging from conflict situations and wrestling with their own security and defence issues41. Portugal, through the special units of its Armed Forces, has participated for more than three decades in the framework of this “new diplomacy of defence” in various military assistance and advisory missions, particularly in its former colonies, for the constitution and reform of the PALOP and East Timor Armed Forces. These are acti-vities considered essential for institutional and human development, based on respect for democratic institutions and for the human rights of states. Portuguese MTC acti-vities began in 1978 with the PALOP countries, aligned with one of the fundamental axes of its foreign and security policy, the CPLP, created on July 17, 1996. In this way, it was designed to deepen Portugal’s relations with the PALOP and, since its accession to the CPLP in 2002, with East Timor42. For Portugal, the use of military technical cooperation alongside its integration at European level and with the Atlantic Alliance, translates into a contribution to world peace and global development as well as its affirmation on the international scene, supporting the organisation of military structures, the formation of cadres, both in the countries that receive support, and in Portugal itself. For the countries receiving external support, Portuguese military cooperation allows for the development of the human factor and the consolidation of armed forces that are respectful of state institu-tions, human rights and the principles of the rule of law. For both, it has allowed the strengthening of their bilateral and multilateral relations within the CPLP (Portugal, 2013)43. Let us now analyse military-technical cooperation between Portugal and East Ti-mor aimed at security sector reform in the area of defence during the period from 2001 to 2016. In bilateral terms, the first defence cooperation agreement between Portugal and East Timor was signed in Dili on May 20, 2002, nine days after East Timor was constituted as an independent State, designed to strengthen existing ties of friendship and fraternity, as well as broaden and deepen relations of cooperation in the field of defence. However, Portugal had already been participating in the defence reform pro-cess since January 2001, within the framework of SSR for East Timor, especially in the 41 COTTEY, A.; FOSTER, A. Reshaping Defence Diplomacy: New Roles for Military Cooperation and Assistance, London: Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 5-8. 42 PINTO, Luís Valença. «A cooperação técnico-militar portuguesa», revista Janus 2013. Available at <http://janusonline.pt/popups2013/2013_2_18.pdf> 10 November 2016. 43 PORTUGAL. «Decree-Law no. 238/1996, 13 December. Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the government of the Portuguese Republic no. 43/1999, 29 April 1999. Resolution of the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic no. 5/2004, 13 January 2004. Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the government of the Portuguese Republic no. 73/2009, 16 July 2009. Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the government of the Portuguese Republic no. 19/2013, 21 March 2013».
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