Minister of Foreign Affairs Paulo Rangel stated that the Portuguese government has reasons to believe the agreement for the use of Lajes Base by the United States is being respected. During a parliamentary hearing, Rangel downplayed the significance of recent aircraft activity and condemned any military escalation in the conflict involving Iran.
Foreign Minister defends US use of Lajes Base
Tuesday, 7 April 2026AI summary
Context & Explainers
Paulo Rangel is a Portuguese politician from the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata or PSD) who has been a prominent voice on defence and foreign‑policy issues and has served in the European Parliament. He appears in this story because he commented publicly on the controversy over Lajes Air Base being used to refuel US planes.
Sources (5)
- Rangel says the Government has reasons to believe that the use of Lajes Base is being respectedRTP Notícias · 5:23pm, 7 Apr 2026
- Paulo Rangel says the government has reasons to believe that the use of Lajes Field is being respectedCorreio da Manhã · 4:22pm, 7 Apr 2026
- Rangel condemns any “rhetorical or military escalation” in the war in Iran and downplays the use of LajesExpresso · 5:07pm, 7 Apr 2026
- Government has reasons to believe that the use of Lajes Base is being respectedECO · 4:50pm, 7 Apr 2026
- "There are always refusals, but we won't put that in the newspapers": Rangel says he has reasons to believe the use of Lajes Base is being respectedCNN Portugal · 4:24pm, 7 Apr 2026
