BE wants the Government to condemn attacks and clarify the use of the Lajes Base

These positions were conveyed to journalists in the Assembly of the Republic by the coordinator and sole deputy of the BE, Mariana Mortágua, who reiterated her party's position in favour of Portugal's exit from NATO, in connection with the Atlantic Alliance summit taking place in The Hague, in the Netherlands.

"We have launched an online petition for anyone who wants to sign it, which has these three points: condemnation of the attacks, respect for international law, the prohibition of the use of bases on national territory in this military escalation and the recognition of Palestine as an essential point for peace in the Middle East", announced Mariana Mortágua.

The BE coordinator accused Portugal and the European Union of siding with the "escalation of war" by failing to condemn the attacks on Iran: "This is the path that Netanyahu is following, that Trump is following and that apparently the European Union and Portugal are also following, by omission and complicity."

Mariana Mortágua expressed support for the "path of diplomacy that respects international law" represented by the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, "who condemned the attacks by Israel on Iran and by the United States of America on Iran, and who warned of the need to comply with and respect the Charter of the United Nations and international law."

"This is the path we advocate, for Europe, for Portugal, a path of diplomacy that respects international law, that follows the words of António Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN, and that is why we demand that the Portuguese State condemn the illegal attacks by Israel on Iran and by the United States on Iran. There are no preventive attacks in international law," he declared.

Regarding the Lajes Base, in the Azores, Mariana Mortágua said that it was used "to refuel US aircraft", adding: "We are not clear on this matter. No guarantee was given that the use of the Lajes Base was not used for a mission that we consider illegal under international law, an attack by the United States of America on Iran".

"We want to see these doubts clarified and we want to have a guarantee from the Government, just as we want to have a condemnation of these attacks", he reinforced.

Later, PS deputy Pedro Delgado Alves, questioned by journalists, said that his party asked for clarifications on the use of the Lajes Base "and the clarifications were provided".

According to Pedro Delgado Alves, "according to what was transmitted" to the PS, "the requirements of conventional obligations, of what was agreed with the United States" were met.

"More, more detailed information will obviously also have to be assessed in the appropriate place, which is not in public. But, evidently, the information was requested and provided and, obviously, it will now be necessary to assess the details with what is available to us at this stage and from the opposition", he added.

As for the "nuclear weapons that were given as justification for this attack" on Iran, the BE coordinator claimed that they are "a lie", referring to the fact that "the North American secret services said that they did not exist, shortly before the attack".

"It is a lie, just as the reasons for attacking Iraq several years ago were a lie, which, in fact, left a trail of destruction in Iraq and the Middle East," he pointed out.

Regarding the NATO summit taking place in the Netherlands, Mariana Mortágua reiterated: "We insist, Portugal's membership is not in NATO, Portugal should not be subservient to Donald Trump and must carry out its military coordination in the European space and leave the NATO alliance."

Previously, Paulo Muacho, a member of the Livre party, considered, regarding the use of the Lajes Base, that the PSD/CDS-PP Government has taken a position that is "too ambiguous and too much in an attempt to avoid explanations".

Paulo Muacho said that Livre had asked the Government a question about this matter and was awaiting explanations about "the level of knowledge that the Government had about the activities at the Lajes Base".

In turn, the parliamentary leader of IL, Mariana Leitão, when asked whether she considered the clarifications provided by the Government to be sufficient, responded: "I think that, from the outset, the multilateral and bilateral agreements that have already been established must be complied with. It is up to the Portuguese Government to decide whether these clarifications were due or not, and whether the agreements are being complied with or not."

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