Portugal PM Defends Lajes Base Use, Tells Courts to Stay Out — SkimNews
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- Luis Montenegro argued on Friday that the US use of Lajes Air Base during the Iran conflict was fully legal and urged the judiciary to avoid political judgments, remarks he made during a parliamentary debate a day after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Lisbon.
- Portuguese prosecutors opened an inquiry last week into the government's authorization of the base, triggered by a complaint from a leftist opposition party that has criticized the centre-right minority government for allowing US military transit flights.
- Spain, France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland have all restricted or refused US military aircraft access to their airspace or bases in connection with the war in Iran, drawing Washington's ire.
- Portugal's government has said the country was not involved in the conflict and that the Lajes authorization complied with international law, granted only after Washington assured operations would be defensive, necessary, proportionate, and limited to military targets.
- Portugal's prosecutors operate under a strict principle of legality requiring investigation when there are sufficient grounds, leaving the government unable to block the probe on prosecutorial discretion grounds as in some other jurisdictions.
Why it matters: Montenegro's defense of the Lajes authorization, made one day after meeting Rubio, positions Portugal as a holdout among European allies who have restricted US military overflights for the Iran war. With a formal judicial inquiry now underway, the political cost of maintaining base access could escalate if prosecutors find legal shortcomings — potentially forcing a future government to revoke the authorization or face an institutional clash with the courts.
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