The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Thursday that “three American aircraft for delivery to Israel” passed through the Lajes Base in the Azores without prior notification to the government, leading to an investigation into “procedural failures.”
This issue arises from a report indicating that six F-35 planes sent by the Trump administration to Israel avoided Spanish airspace and made a stopover at the U.S. base in Lajes before crossing the Strait of Gibraltar.
In a statement, the ministry led by Paulo Rangel stated that “such overflights require communication and authorization (often tacit) from the Portuguese state under the permanent annual authorization,” hence neither the minister nor his office had “knowledge or information” of this.
However, the minister decided to “immediately conduct an inquiry to determine whether such overflights had occurred and why they had not been brought to his attention,” although he emphasized that, “under normal conditions, the minister’s office is never informed of these tactical communications and authorizations.”
[News in update]
