At issue is the German-owned ship “Kathrin”, registered in Madeira, which transports explosive material destined for weapons manufacturers in Israel, Poland and Slovakia.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs defended this Tuesday that Portugal’s legal responsibility had been removed in the which, in September, transported explosives for weapons production in Israel, criticizing the opposition’s exploitation of the matter.
Responding to the request from the Left Bloc (BE) parliamentary group presented to the Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, Paulo Rangel argued that the ship was not going to Israel, but to the ports of Bar, in Montenegro, and Koper, in Slovenia.
“We did all the due diligence. On September 28th, the company that owned the boat said it was willing to remove the Portuguese flag and so it was. From that moment on, any of our responsibility, in legal terms, was exonerated. Although we have some responsibility about the ship, we don’t have any more information about the ship’s loading so that we are not helping possible crimes, or crimes that may be evident under international humanitarian law, in the territory of Gaza”, explained Rangel.
According to the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, the change of flag “took time” because it had to be done on the high seas.
“The company in question was collaborative with the Portuguese State with registration in Madeira, from the beginning, always saying where it was, all the steps it was taking, the difficulties it had, but always guaranteeing that it would never go to any port, be it whatever it was, without changing the flag, so that Portugal would be completely calm.
Rangel said he was “shocked” by the leader of BE, Mariana Mortágua, who, at one point, he indicated, said that the head of Portuguese diplomacy was the “boatman of death or genocide”.
“These are things that only people who make political combat an absolutely unacceptable throwing weapon can say (…). So far, I have not seen any government, other than ours, banning the export of weapons to Israel”, he said.
Rangel highlighted that this entire matter is not the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but of the General Coordination of Maritime Resources, which depends on the Secretariat of State for the Sea, which, in turn, is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy.
Marisa Matias, from BE accused Rangel of having devalued the issue, and, turning her attention “to the genocide in Gaza perpetrated by Israel”, once again held the Portuguese Government responsible for being “accomplice” in atrocities in the Gaza Strip by participating in the sending of weapons for the Israeli authorities.
On the other hand, Marisa Matias questioned Rangel whether he will join South Africa and Ireland’s complaint to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and, at the same time, recognize the Palestinian State.
Rangel retorted that Portugal “wants to build bridges, is in favor of dialogue, is in favor of trying to unwind relations” and is concerned about the people who die in Gaza.
“The suffering in Gaza does not decrease because we do this or that. The suffering in Gaza decreases if we work to bring about a ceasefire. That is a fundamental question,” he replied.
“We try to reconcile the parties. So, on the issue of the ICJ, of course we will not join. And on the issue of recognizing Palestine, as I have always said, our position remains the same. As long as we think that for the conflict it is more The position we find ourselves in is useful, let’s keep it.
“We have relations with the State of Israel, just as we have very good and very fruitful relations with the Palestinian Authority”, highlighted Rangel.
Regarding the withdrawal of Portuguese or Portuguese-Palestinian citizens from Gaza, an issue raised by the leader of the PAN, Inês Sousa Real, the head of Portuguese diplomacy said that he knows of a case of a Portuguese citizen, married to a Luxembourgish-Palestinian citizen, who asks for the removal of 140 of the woman’s family members, of which, in reality, only around 20 can be counted, eventually.
“We wanted to save everyone, the 1.9 million [de deslocados]there were not 140 or 130 or 150. But they are not eligible, they do not meet the criteria”, explained Rangel, who added that he has indications, yet to be confirmed, that there are 14 Portuguese-Palestinians flagged in Gaza. “But there are no direct family members of Portuguese “.
“We are always in a state of readiness. We have to follow criteria. We cannot bring everyone. It is a drama, yes. But there are rules”, stated Rangel, when asked by deputy Rodrigo Saraiva, from the Liberal Initiative (IL), about whether Requests for support from Portuguese people in Syria have already been received.
“In the case of Syria, there was a nun and a UN employee, both of Portuguese nationality. The nun wanted to remain in Syrian territory, precisely because of the role she occupies there, and the employee who was identified, I don’t think he was even in Syria anymore. It was difficult to even find him, because he would already be somewhere else”, he replied.
