Joana Mortágua, a leader of the Bloco de Esquerda, addressed the media at the party’s headquarters in Lisbon, criticizing the Minister of Defense for allegedly allowing aircraft and military equipment to pass through the Lajes Air Base, which she claims was intended for use in the oppression of Palestinians, without the knowledge of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. According to Mortágua, Paulo Rangel would not have approved the passage of military material headed for Israel.
Mortágua asserted, “The Minister of Foreign Affairs would not authorize the passage of military material to Israel due to a military embargo and recognizing that facilitating arms that contribute to the genocide of Palestinians could be deemed an international crime and a violation of Portuguese and international law.”
The bloc leader expressed that Portugal “cannot maintain a Minister of Defense whose loyalty lies with the Israeli government rather than the Portuguese government,” thus insinuating that Nuno Melo “is unfit to remain in the government.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) reported that three American aircraft made a stop at the Lajes Air Base en route to Israel without prior notification to the Portuguese government, which was labeled a “procedural failure.” The MNE is seeking to investigate the matter further.
In a statement, the MNE clarified that the layover and flight of the three American aircraft to Israel on April 22 did not necessarily constitute a breach of commitments made by the Ministry or Government concerning the embargo on arms sales and the transit of military materials through Portuguese territories, as mandated by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s administration.
The statement noted that this operation received “communication and tacit authorization (i.e., by the lapse of the respective period)” and had already been favored by the opinion of the AAN (National Aeronautics Authority), under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense, led by Nuno Melo.
