“I don’t understand how Nuno Melo can remain as Minister of Defense,” stated Rui Tavares, speaking to Lusa and Antena 1, on the sidelines of a campaign event for the municipal elections on the 12th, in Lisbon.
In a statement released today by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE), overseen by Paulo Rangel, three American aircraft made a stopover at the Azorean base of Lajes en route to Israel, without prior notice to the Portuguese Government, a “procedural failure” for which the Portuguese diplomatic chief wants to hold accountable parties.
The note mentions that this operation had “communication and tacit authorization (i.e., by the expiration of the respective deadline)” and the communication already had a favorable opinion from the AAN (National Aeronautics Authority), which is under the Ministry of National Defense, headed by Nuno Melo.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs kicks the ball to Defense and says it’s the responsibility of Defense. This wasn’t known before the May 18 elections and means that Portuguese territory was used to send planes, possibly those that were bombing Gaza, in an operation that already earns, from many international organizations, the designation of genocidal operation and that includes war crimes,” criticized Rui Tavares.
The spokesperson for Livre considered that “chaos and disarray have been launched in the Government,” with two ministers “who do not understand each other.”
After Nuno Melo this morning classified the participation of Portuguese in the flotilla heading to the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid, which includes the coordinator of BE, Mariana Mortágua, as “pamphleteering and irresponsible,” Rui Tavares responded that it is the centrist who “is on the side of the terrorists.”
“That Nuno Melo, who apparently allows planes that go on these operations to pass through Portuguese territory, still comes to give moral lessons about who is with terrorists or not, when he is actively letting the habits of terrorism pass or turning a blind eye on one side (…) is a farce in very bad taste,” he criticized.
In the statement, the MNE emphasizes that “the stopover and overflight of three American aircraft for delivery to Israel,” which occurred on April 22, does not mean that “the commitment assumed by the Ministry or the Government in this matter has been strictly violated,” referring to the embargo on the sale of arms and passage through national territory of military material to Israel, determined by the executive of Luís Montenegro.
The Lajes Air Base, located in the Azores archipelago, is used militarily by the United States of America under a cooperation agreement.
