“A Helena Paiva, our ambassador in Israel, is a distinguished personality, a woman of great diplomatic value, and I am confident she has done everything within her power to protect people’s lives,” stated José Luís Carneiro to journalists upon arriving at a campaign event in Lourinhã, in the district of Lisbon, when asked about the situation of the Portuguese detained in Israel.
According to the PS Secretary-General, “there are other dimensions that deserve political monitoring” and this will occur “at the appropriate time and place.”
“I do not believe there is any devaluation on the part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff. Our ambassadors, our consuls are among the finest diplomatic structures in the world,” he responded, when questioned about the Government’s stance.
Carneiro recalled supervising consular services when he was Secretary of State for Communities and knows “how consuls and ambassadors give their best to safeguard and protect people’s lives abroad.”
“Therefore, first and foremost, [there is a] diplomatic structure that, regardless of the governments, follows political guidelines in a very diligent and dedicated manner,” he praised.
Regarding the internal procedural failure of the Foreign Affairs Ministry concerning U.S. F-35 aircraft headed to Israel that passed through the Lajes base, in the Azores, the PS leader said he had nothing to add because “this is the time of the parliament.”
“The parliamentary group will request a hearing, and the other parties also want to conduct this hearing with the two ministers, of Foreign Affairs and Defense. We will now wait for the parliament’s time, as it is there that this hearing will take place,” he said.
The failure, according to the Government, did not allow for an alert at the political level that would enable a decision of opposition to be made.
PS, PCP, and Livre have already announced they will summon the head of diplomacy, Paulo Rangel, and also the Minister of Defense, Nuno Melo, whose resignation was requested by the Bloco de Esquerda and refused by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
