“All of this will need to be well explained, and it should be clarified as soon as possible. If the government doesn’t want to explain, parliament will certainly uncover the truth and the necessary political consequences,” asserted Rui Tavares, on the sidelines of a campaign event for the municipal elections on the 12th in Aveiro.
According to Rui Tavares, Luís Montenegro “cannot simply sweep this under the rug and carry on as if nothing happened,” following the news that three American aircraft made a stopover at the Azores’ Lajes base en route to Israel.
This stopover reportedly took place without prior communication to the head of Portuguese diplomacy, Paulo Rangel, a “procedural lapse” for which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) seeks to determine responsibility.
Today, the Prime Minister expressed regret over a “procedural error” but denied any dismissals within the executive because of this issue.
“One cannot deal with the issue of arms relating to what many international organizations already refer to as genocide as if it were any other type of material passing through Portuguese territory,” argued Rui Tavares, who believes this is “a very poorly told story.”
For Livre, “it matters little to know now whether it was Nuno Melo who failed Paulo Rangel or Paulo Rangel who failed Nuno Melo, or if both failed each other.”
“But the government failed the Portuguese by allowing extremely lethal F-35 fighter jets to pass through Portuguese territory en route to the Israeli army during this absolutely brutal offensive on Gaza, especially after being rejected by Spain,” he emphasized.
The Livre deputy said he had heard Paulo Rangel say several times “that, unlike Spain, Portugal has an arms embargo with Israel, and it is necessary to understand when this embargo began and whether Paulo Rangel considers it was violated.”
Tavares emphasized that he is not accustomed to calling for ministerial resignations but questioned whether the two ministers have the conditions to continue after this incident.
According to the Livre spokesperson, it is also essential to know why the situation was not known earlier in April, “that is, before the May 18 elections.”
“Because that would have been important for the Portuguese to judge the parties presenting themselves in elections, particularly those of the government, for their negligent handling of life-and-death matters,” he stressed.
[News updated at 19:05]
