Prime Minister of Portugal António Costa addresses the 72nd UN General Assembly on September 20, 2017, at the United Nations in New York | Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images EU defense pact tests Portugal’s left-wing government alliance Portuguese Communist Party denounces EU plan as a German-led ‘warlike escalation with Russia.’

LISBON — Portugal’s Socialist government plans to sign up to the European Union defense pact due to be launched in Brussels Monday, despite fierce opposition from its far-left parliamentary allies.

“We foresee that Portugal will be among the founding members of PESCO,” the foreign ministry said Friday, referring to the Permanent Structured Cooperation, or PESCO, plan to tighten defense cooperation between EU nations.

However, Portugal will miss the launch ceremony in Brussels on Monday, pending further scrutiny of the defense plan in parliament, where government is relying on support from the center-right opposition to overcome resistance from the left.

In parliament Friday, the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) denounced the EU defense plan as a German-led “warlike escalation with Russia.” Communist lawmaker Jorge Machado said the plan would create a European army that Germany wanted to use to prevent refugees entering the country.

Foreign and defense policy lies outside the deal signed two years ago to guarantee support from the communists and the radical Left Bloc party for the minority Socialist government headed by Prime Minister António Costa.

The Left Bloc complains that the defense plan will divert EU money away from regional development schemes.

PESCO is being pushed by France and Germany to bolster European defense following Britain’s vote to leave the EU and comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that cast doubt on America’s commitment to NATO. Twenty-two EU countries have, so far, agreed to sign up.

Portugal aims to join them before the EU defense plan is formally launched on December 11. “It makes every sense for Portugal to be part of PESCO, and from the start,” Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva told lawmakers Friday. “This does not affect our national sovereignty, nor our commitments to NATO.”

Defense Minister José Azeredo Lopes said he expected all EU nations to join eventually, apart from departing Britain, neutral Malta and Denmark, which has long opted out of European defense initiatives.

The government’s communist backers were unconvinced. “This is all about NATO, a common European army, in other words: war, war, war,” said Machado. “We believe in demilitarization, in the dismantling of the military blocs.”

The PCP maintains a steadfast opposition to Western defense alliances. On Tuesday, the party rallied thousands of red flag-waving supporters in Lisbon to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Party leader Jerónimo de Sousa drew cheers with his description of the Bolshevik takeover as “the most advanced fulfillment of humanity’s liberation process from all forms of exploitation and oppression.”

Pedro Passos Coelho, leader of the main opposition Social Democratic Party, backed the new EU defense plan, but he too cautioned against the creation of a common European military. “We want to strengthen and broaden defense solutions, but we don’t want a European army,” he told party supporters this week. “We won’t back the government in a process leading to that result … there’s no blank check.”

Government ministers insist Portugal’s participation won’t lead to additional commitments in the defense budget beyond the NATO target for all allies to allocate 2 percent of gross domestic product on military spending by 2024.

Portugal currently falls well short of that goal, spending 1.32 percent of GDP on defense, according to the latest NATO data.