Asked whether he will ask the Government led by Luís Montenegro for explanations on the issue, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied no.
Speaking to RTP, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa began by recalling that he was in Estonia when “this apparent clash of versions emerged”.
“My position is very simple: either they were already Israeli planes, and specific authorization was needed for them to pass, or they were Americans, and then they have tacit approval”, he stated.
The Portuguese head of state considers that it can “be discussed how the American administration presented the issue”, but argues that “it’s not worth making this a diplomatic issue”.
At issue is a stopover at the Lajes Base, in the Azores, of three F-35 aircraft, sold by the United States of America to Israel, without prior knowledge of the Portuguese Minister of Foreign AffairsPaulo Rangel.
The Lajes Air Base, located in the Azores archipelago, is used militarily by the United Stateswithin the scope of a bilateral cooperation agreement.
Marcelo will not ask the Government for explanations
Asked whether he will ask the Government led by Luís Montenegro for explanations on the issue, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied that he did not.
“I have my explanation – which is what was said to me at the time – which was that the American administration said they were Americans and implied that they were on their way to Israel. Now what does this on the way mean or not mean… What is a fact is that there was no communication to the minister that could have been there. And what is also a fact is that the system of tacit approval only exists for the Americans because the base is concessioned to them”, he stated.
The movement of aircraft in April received a favorable opinion from the which depends on the Ministry of National Defense, and had “tacit communication and authorization”, according to the MNE.
The failure, according to the Government, did not allow there to be an alert at a political level that would allow an opposition decision to be taken.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, asked if he considers that the Government could have handled this matter differently, replied that “it is not the Government”.
“Here apparently it was a bureaucratic operation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had nothing to do with the minister,” he said.
PS, PCP and Livre have already announced that they will call the head of diplomacy, Paulo Rangel, to parliament, as well as the Minister of Defense, Nuno Melo, whose resignation was requested by the Left Bloc and refused by the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro.
