In a telephone statement from Paris, where he is campaigning for the January 2026 presidential elections, Marques Mendes commented on the recent episode by stating that “what happened should not have occurred.”
Mendes, referring to the official statement from Luís Montenegro’s administration, said that “there was no authorization from the Portuguese Government” for the stopover in the Azores of the three aircraft the United States sold to Israel.
He expressed that this issue, which should never have arisen, must be properly clarified in the Portuguese parliament, deeming it “obvious and natural” for such explanations to be given in the Assembly of the Republic in a democracy.
The former PSD president and presidential candidate, supported by the social democrats, emphasized that explanations should be provided not because the clarifications so far have been insufficient, but because “it is normal in democracy” for this to happen in parliament.
“When such a situation occurs, it is natural that explanations are provided to parliament. It is natural. It is so obvious and natural that, in my view, there is no discussion,” he reiterated.
On Saturday in Chaves, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro stated that “the Government did not intervene in any act” that could be interpreted as the sale of military equipment to Israel during the F-35 fighters’ stopover.
This clarification was given after, on Friday, the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, explained that a bureaucratic oversight prevented the issuance of a political alert that would have allowed the government to make a decision to object.
“What occurred was a failure in the specific case’s evaluation by the services regarding the communication made by the United States that their planes were passing, stopping, and parking at the Lajes base,” he noted on October 3, following the last Council of Ministers meeting.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) announced on Thursday that the stopover occurred without prior communication to the head of Portuguese diplomacy, ensuring there was a “procedural error.”
Marques Mendes also reacted to Lusa regarding Israel’s detention of four Portuguese citizens who were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla heading to the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid, including the coordinator of the Bloco de Esquerda, stating that “everything that happened was predictable.”
“Everyone knew the final outcome would be this. Mariana Mortágua [leader of the Bloco de Esquerda] knew it, I knew it, and everyone who follows these matters knew it. That flotilla would, at some point, be intercepted, its members would be detained and then repatriated to their countries. Everyone already knew this. Let’s stop the hypocrisy,” he said.
“This was also what the activists intended. The activists knew very well that they would not reach Gaza; what they wanted was to draw attention to this cause, to protest when detained, thus achieving their objectives,” he stated.
For Marques Mendes, “the Portuguese Government acted strongly, accompanying, providing diplomatic protection, questioning the Israeli authorities through legitimate and diplomatic means to ensure the dignified treatment of the detained individuals and their repatriation to Portugal.”
“The Portuguese Government cannot be criticized for anything; it acted with complete correctness,” he emphasized, noting that “regardless of liking this initiative or not, they are Portuguese and deserve—and have the right—to full consular and diplomatic protection.”
The Portuguese are to be repatriated today, expected to arrive at Humberto Delgado Airport at around 10:30 PM, announced the Humanitarian Flotilla and Palestine en Português groups.
Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, detaining the participants, including four Portuguese citizens: Bloco de Esquerda leader Mariana Mortágua, actress Sofia Aparício, and activists Miguel Duarte and Diogo Chaves.
