Two Portuguese were caught by Border police on Spanish border with €1M in suitcase

Two Portuguese nationals were caught by Spanish police near the border with over one million euros in cash on them.

The incident happened during the early hours of Tuesday morning near the border town of Caia, between Elvas and Badajoz.

Suspicious of the Portuguese-registered car the Spanish Guardia Civil stopped it and inspected it and found the cash stashed inside a bag and a suitcase.

The driver said he had made the money through business in Madrid and was taking it to Lisbon.

The cash was eventually seized on the grounds the man did not have the necessary paperwork to take such a large amount out of the country.

Restaurant VAT to drop 10 percent on Friday in Portugal

Restaurant VAT to drop 10 percent on Friday

BY TPN/ LUSA,

The rate of value-added sales tax applicable in restaurants and cafés in Portugal is to be slashed on Friday - to 13% in mainland Portugal - after three and a half years at 23% as part of measures aimed at cutting the public sector deficit that were imposed despite protests by sector associations.

According to legislative changes that come into effect on 1 July, all food services are to be subject to the intermediate rate of VAT - which is 13% in mainland Portugal, 9% in the Azores and 12% in Madeira.

The new rate applies to all food sold in restaurants while for beverages the rate will vary. Alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, fruit juices and sparing water will remain subject to the top rate of VAT, while for still water, tea, coffee and mil the intermediate rate applies.

Takeaways and prepared food delivered to customer's homes is also to include the intermediate rate for food and the differing rules for drinks.

Istanbul Ataturk airport attack: At least 28 dead and dozens injured

A suicide gun and bomb attack on Istanbul's Ataturk international airport, one of Europe's busiest, has killed 28 people and injured 60 more.

Three attackers were involved, with one reportedly opening fire with a Kalashnikov as they targeted an entry point to the terminal.

Recent bombings in Turkey have been linked to either Kurdish separatists or the so-called Islamic State group.

This looks like a major co-ordinated assault, the BBC's Mark Lowen reports.

Ataturk airport was long seen as a vulnerable target, our Turkey correspondent adds, reporting from a plane at the airport.

There are X-ray scanners at the entry to the terminal but security checks for cars are limited.

• Country profile: Turkey
  

'Dressed in black'

Flights in and out of the airport were suspended after the attack.

Taxis were used to rush casualties to hospital in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The Istanbul governor gave the death toll of 28 after first reports of 10 fatalities.

"Three suicide bombers carried out an attack," Vasip Sahin told journalists. "Twenty-eight people have lost their lives. There are also 60 people injured."

Two South African tourists, Paul and Susie Roos from Cape Town, were at the airport and due to fly home at the time of the explosions.

"We came up from the arrivals to the departures, up the escalator when we heard these shots going off," Mr Roos told the Associated Press news agency.

"There was this guy going roaming around, he was dressed in black and he had a handgun."

Charles Michel, the Prime Minister of Belgium whose capital city was targeted by bombers in March, tweeted from the EU summit in Brussels: "Our thoughts are with the victims of the attacks at Istanbul's airport. We condemn these atrocious acts of violence."

In December, a blast on the tarmac at a different Istanbul airport, Sabiha Gokcen, killed a cleaner. That attack was claimed by a Kurdish group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK).

Security concerns and a Russian boycott have hit the country's tourist sector this year.

On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly apologised for the downing of a Russian military jet on the Turkey-Syria border last year, the act which sparked the boycott.

Last year, Ataturk overtook Frankfurt airport to enter the top three busiest airports in Europe after London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

More than 61 million passengers travelled through the airport in 2015.

A US state department travel warning for Turkey, originally published in March and updated on Monday, urges US citizens to "exercise heightened vigilance and caution when visiting public access areas, especially those heavily frequented by tourists."

SEF identified 60 illegal foreign nationals who were transported in vans in Tavira Faro, most are Farm workers

Monitoring Operation in Tavira

The operation was carried out with the collaboration of the GNR and PSP sites with actual involved spread over 5 different control points along the EN125 surrounding the city.


The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) set off this morning, an inspection operation in the Tavira area, as part of its permanence monitoring mission and activity of foreign citizens in Portugal.

The operation was carried out with the collaboration of the GNR and PSP sites with actual involved spread over 5 different control points along the EN125 surrounding the city of Tavira.

They identified 60 foreign nationals who were transported in vans, bound for farms and construction sites, of which 10 were in an irregular situation, having been reported for voluntary abandonment of national territory.

In order to prevent and combat the use of illegal in foreign activity and to facilitate illegal immigration and trafficking in persons, SEF has intensified enforcement actions directed to economic activities that this time of year have more say in Algarve and can be potentiate this type of crime.

Algarve is shortage by Doctors , need 164 doctors

Algarve needs 164 doctors

IN NEWS ·

According to regional health authorities, the Algarve is short of 164 doctors, but that this problem should be resolved in the next six years.

The regional ARS health board explained over the weekend that hospitals in Portimão and Faro need an additional 100 doctors, while primary care units could house a further 64 physicians.

The Algarve is expecting to welcome 30 recently graduated general practitioners during the course of this year, along with a further 34 in 2017, which should see the region’s health care needs overcome by 2021.

PCP wants Portugal prepared to leave the Euro

Two days after the British had decided in a referendum, leaving the European Union (EU), the so-called "Brexit" was one of the analysis of issues by the Central Committee meeting this weekend, de- week in Lisbon and whose findings were presented Sunday.

"We must be prepared to have its own initiative, must sovereignly decide what we want for our country, not what others impose on us," said the general secretary of the CFP. It was a clarification to a sentence read by the general secretary of the Communist: "The urgency and the need for Portugal to prepare and be prepared to free submission to the Euro in order to guarantee the rights, employment, production, sovereignty and national independence. "

In the end, the leader of the PCP avoided opine a calendar and, likewise, did not rule on the method that should lead Portugal to abandon the discipline of the single currency. "This desamarramento the single currency policy has to be a process, not a sudden act" needed. But always listed what should be the protagonists of such a change: "It should be the Government, the Parliament preparing to exit the Euro, it's your responsibility."

The solution is for the CFP, conducting an intergovernmental summit to address the reversibility of the Treaties, the revocation of the Budgetary Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty. Decision should be taken at the European Council on Wednesday.


"The victory of the European Union exit the referendum in the UK is an extremely important political event for the people of the UK and Europe," reads the statement. "It represents a fundamental change in the capitalist integration process in Europe and a new level in the fight against the EU of big business and the major powers, and a Europe of workers and peoples," he explains.

Although the Communists refer to "reactionary character elements, xenophobic and political manipulation that is expressed in the campaign (...) that the CFP combat and remade frontally," Sousa Jeronimo preferred a nuance. "Splay only xenophobia is to have short-sighted, the restrictions of the European Union fueled xenophobia and this is what is found not only in the UK but in other countries," he said in response to PUBLIC.

In the three-page and a half of the statement, in addition to announcing partisan initiatives - party Avante - and to proclaim the accuracy of close combat in regional elections in the Azores and in local, PCP does not fail to underline some of the government work. Although no concrete signal points makes a generally positive assessment: "Despite advances and projects under the new phase of national political life, remain a set of traits in social terms that reflect the sharp increase in recent years."

special attention deserves the Communists the situation of the financial system . Condemn the sorting maneuvers aimed at destabilizing the Caixa Geral de Depósitos . " Operation of the PSD with the survey operation and has the support of the CDS aims to encourage private competitors of Caixa Geral de Depósitos and pave the way for its full or partial privatization ," insisted Jeronimo de Sousa.


In this context, the PCP again expressed its support for a process of recapitalization of the case and the development of public entity "in the service of the people and the country ." Finally , the Central Committee of the Communist also drew attention to the attention of developments around the New Bank , criticizing the restructuring involving the dismissal of hundreds of workers .

From https://www.publico.pt/politica/noticia/pcp-quer-portugal-preparado-para-sair-do-euro-1736408?frm=ult

What is Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty explained ?

Now that Britain has voted to leave the European Union, the UK Prime Minister will have to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, thus starting the formal process of a UK exit.

What is Article 50?

Article 50 of the Treaty allows a member state to notify the EU of its withdrawal and obliges the EU to try to negotiate a ‘withdrawal agreement’ with that state. It involves five points:

• 1.
Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.
• 2.
A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union. That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It shall be concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.
• 3.
The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that, two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned, unanimously decides to extend this period.
• 4.
For the purposes of paragraphs 2 and 3, the member of the European Council or of the Council representing the withdrawing Member State shall not participate in the discussions of the European Council or Council or in decisions concerning it. A qualified majority shall be defined in accordance with Article 238(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
• 5.
If a State which has withdrawn from the Union asks to rejoin, its request shall be subject to the procedure referred to in Article 49.

I will take about two years to officially “leave” the EU, however, most experts predict a longer period. During this negotiation process, EU laws will still apply to the UK – it will continue to participate in other EU business but willnot participate in internal EU discussions or decisions on its own withdrawal.

Talks will focus on negotiating access to the single market and creating new trade deals, as well as deciding therights of movement for EU nationals and Britons. For example, what arrangements and visas will be necessary for EU citizens in the UK and for British nationals on the European Continent?

This is also when it will be decided what kind of trade deal Britain will have with the EU. Negotiators must take into account an exiting country’s “future relationship” with the EU.

Agreements or any extension to Article 50 will have to be approved by all 27 member states and will likely require ratification by national parliaments.

British PM David Cameron has said that Article 50 will not be invoked before his successor is in place. He is expected to be replaced by October of 2016.

Portugal through to Euro 2016 last eight

IN NEWS 

Portugal recorded their first win of the European football championships after beating Croatia with a last-gasp goal by Ricardo Quaresma.

After a dull goalless draw after regulation time, Portugal left it until the 117^th minute to secure victory against the fancied Croatian side who had earlier beaten Spain, the defending European champions and 2010 World Cup winners.

 Portugal’s 1-0 win over Croatia, books them a place in the Euro 2016 quarter-finals where they will face Poland on Thursday evening at 8pm.

Brexit: Portugal Minister who worked in UK says Portuguese will be well treated

IN NEWS · 24-06-2016 14:47:00 · 0 COMMENTS

Portugal’s Minister of Education who lived in the UK for many years while conducting research, has on Friday said he was concerned about the UK’s exit of the EU, but said he believed the Portuguese who live there will be well treated.

Tiago Brandão Rodrigues told reporters “we should respect the will of all Britons. We also need to understand that a referendum measures a moment and not a process, but we now need to attentively look at this whole process, with concern, but above all, draw the necessary conclusions and see how this develops.”

The Portuguese Education Minister spent the past five years doing oncology research at Cambridge University and at 38, changed the institution for politics in Portugal.

“Personally, the UK always treated me well and I believe that it will always treat all Portuguese and the Portuguese community in the same way”, with Tiago Brandão Rodrigues adding that “we need to see what will happen in next few months.”

Portugal is EU's third largest tomato producer Country

Portugal is EU's third largest tomato producer

BY TPN/ LUSA,

Portugal is the European Union's third largest tomato producer, accounting for 8.0% of total production last year, after Italy and 36.3% and Spain with 27.4%, according to a report released by the EU's statistics office, Eurostat..

Together, the three countries account for around three-quarters of all tomatoes produced in the EU by weight.

Portugal grows 2.5% of all vegetables and 3.6% of fruit produce in the EU.

The tomato is the vegetable produced in the greatest quantity, at 35 kilos per EU resident per year, while the apple is the most-produced fruit, at 25 kilos.

Poland is the EU's largest apple producer, with 25% of the total, followed by Italy with 19.2% and France with 15.5%.

Portugal accounts for 2.6% of total EU apple production.

Portugal's worst cherry season in 30 years

BY TPN/ LUSA

Cherry production in Portugal has seen its worst year in the last three decades with only about half the amount that was grown in 2015 because of the very wet spring, the Portuguese National Statistics Institute (INE) farming forecast said.

The steep fall in cherry output was because of a winter that was not as cold as usual and then the persistent rain that fell in the springtime, with May being the wettest in the last 22 years.

Overall, it is estimated that cherry production was around 1.4 tons per hectare, one of the lowest amounts in the last 30 years.

Peach production has also been badly affected by the weather and a 20% drop in output is expected.

Police inspector among 20 held in corruption investigation

BY TPN/ LUSA,

Portugal's main criminal investigation force, the Polícia Judiciária, detained 20 people on Tuesday, including one of its own inspectors and two security guards, on suspicion of paying and receiving bribes, and other crimes relating to the fraudulent approval of automobiles submitted for inspection, according to police.

The operation in the Greater Lisbon area involved 200 detectives and the seizure of evidence and objects relating to the crimes of taking and receiving bribes embezzlement abuse of power graft and document forgery.

It formed part of an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Unit (UNCC) that began some eight months ago under the direction of public prosecutors based at Sintra.

The detainees are to be questioned by a judge to decide on whether they are to remain in custody.

A police spokesman told Lusa News Agency that a PJ inspector and a couple working as security guards are among those detained, on suspicion of taking and receiving bribes.

According to the spokesman the detained inspector belongs to the UNCC, and works in an area that focusses on counterfeited credit cards and forged coins.

The other detainees include staff at automobile inspection centres and garages.

Spring 2016 wettest in 15 years, 14th wettest since 1931

BY TPN/ LUSA,

This year's spring has so far been the wettest in a decade and a half and the 14th wettest since 1931, according to the latest climatology bulletin of the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA).

Spring 2016 was also classed as relatively cold, according to the bulletin, which was posted on the institute's website.

Although the astronomical spring officially ends next wee, with summer beginning on 20 June, in climatological terms IPMA defines spring as March, April and May.

According to the bulletin the "average value of the quantity of precipitation in the trimester March-May (346.4 millimetres) was superior to the average, corresponding to 164% of the normal value”.

Total precipitation in the period was greater than normal in all regions of Portugal, with the lowest rainfall seen in Sagres, in the Algarve (at 128.4 millimetres) and the highest in Cabril, in Montalegre (787.5 millimetres).

According to IPMA, the average values for maximum and minimum temperatures during the period were lower than normal. March in particular was very cold, with the average temperature the lowest in more than three decades and the 13th lowest since 1931.

More than 40 drivers detained in 12 hours over weekend with drink driving

More than 40 drivers detained in 12 hours over weekend

GNR police detained more than 40 people on Saturday night and during the early hours of Sunday morning, the majority for drink-driving.

Arrests were also made for drug trafficking and being in possession of illegal weapons, the GNR said Sunday.

Nationwide action was staged between 8pm Saturday night and 8am Sunday morning and in those 12 hours saw a total of 43 people detained.

A range of drugs and weapons were also removed from the roads during the operation.

London can leave the EU but Portuguese think not leave London

ANA FONSECA PEREIRA
Unable to vote, nationals look forward to the referendum on the EU and deplore rhetoric against immigrants. With one exception, Portuguese heard by PUBLIC say victory "Brexit" will not lead them to consider returning.

The decision is not in their hands and it's like mere spectators - more anxious about than others - attending a campaign that could alienate the UK from Europe and block the free movement that opened their doors in the country. Some have be troubled about the future, who are concerned about the situation of the other Portuguese who arrived less time and those who do not believe that the break with the European Union can even happen. But leave London, the city that already call home, is an option that few are on the table.

It is south of the Thames, wedged between the large buildings that are changing the face and the profile of areas of Vauxhall and Stockwell, the signs denouncing the Portuguese stronghold in the London metropolis. The Portugal Bakery, the Portuguese Wines or the Star Bar are some of the establishments that line up along the South Lambeth Road and there Portuguese is the lingua franca, even if often already mixed with English. Only there, in Little Portugal, as they call the area, home to about 40,000 Portuguese and Portuguese descendants, part of a community that began installing more than 30 years, with the arrival of Madeiran immigrants.

Across the road stands the local library, a haven for a neighborhood where Patricia Marcelino began to organize English classes shortly after he arrived in London five years ago. He came, the daughter of 16 years, finished a doctorate that life and volunteering has not left him over. "I realized that there were many Portuguese here who did not speak English and we started organizing weekly classes," explains the large library room where the four tables at the center every Saturday afternoon between 12 and 20 people, mostly adults come together to learn basics of the language. Without registration, without payment or mandatory attendance. "Just come and sit."

On the shelves next to a "Portuguese corner" was created that has over a thousand donated books, and at the other end a small space for children where once a month, there reading sessions for young children. "The community membership to the library was low," explains Patricia, invited three years ago by the Library Friends group to bridge the gap between the Portuguese and the institution, which a few months ago was saved from closure by local mobilization, but still at the sight of real estate speculation.

The same objective approach led to the first Portuguese market, the June 11 joined dozens of banquinhas and more than two thousand people. "We organized it in two and a half weeks, all on a voluntary basis and good will," he says, adding that the intention is to repeat the experience every month, to "create a reference point for the community, attract tourists" to the zone and support the Portuguese who are launching their own businesses.
"They have more to lose than us"
Portuguese emigration to the UK shows no signs of slowing down - Patricia cites the 31,000 who signed up in the British Social Security between September 2014 and September 2015, but also their own experience. Seeing the situation of many migrants who arrive in London without work and without knowing English, he launched the project O Mother I Emigrate! What led you to write a guide for anyone thinking to work for the UK and doing training in Portugal to reach the people "before they make blunders." Not long ago, in Braga, "had 60 young people and when I asked how many of them is that they were thinking about emigrating, raised all arm," he says.

With these, newcomers or those who despite being several years in the country do not have certain income, Patricia cares when you think should the UK leave the EU. "The most qualified arrive with a good chance of getting good jobs" and even disappear freedom of movement "companies will guarantee work visas". "The problem is that it has no qualifications, those who do not speak English or rely on social support." He admits that the output of the UK EU may lead some of them to have to leave the country, but stresses the unreality who argues that migration needs to be drastically reduced. "It is true that we are 12 million people in London and there are many who are not English. But they are immigrants who are bubbling capital. If we had decided to leave, they lost more than us. "

Seven youths arrested by GNR Police for Albufeira muggings

Seven youths arrested for Albufeira muggings

IN ALGARVE 

A group of seven youths has been arrested on suspicion of a spate of dawn muggings in Albufeira

A statement from the GNR police today said the seven men aged 17 to 26 were detained on Monday after allegedly committing a crime, and are suspected of being responsible for others.

The youths are said to have used the same modus operandi in all their crimes, mugging victims as they left bars and nightclubs in the city, when they would steal their belongings and force them to withdraw cash from ATM machines

At least 48 illegal workers were caught by SEF control in Portugal

The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), in collaboration with the National Guard, triggered an operation in the morning and this morning in the town of Cantanhede, aimed at detection and identification of foreign nationals in an irregular legal status in the country, and the corresponding signaling situations of hand labor illegal employment and labor exploitation, in order to fining in accordance with identified illegal situations.


The operation, directed to the sector of forestry, lasted two hours and took place in various parts of the city of Cantanhede, encompassing road checkpoints and others focused on the identification of citizens on public roads.

four dozen individuals were identified, thirty-five of them foreign nationals. Of these, almost two-thirds, twenty two, were illegal, as it was found not to be title holders or valid visa to allow the permanence in the national territory and the exercise of its professional activity.

Thirteen citizens illegally were reported to voluntary abandonment of the country, within twenty days, under penalty of not doing so, it can become established process of coercive removal by SEF. Five were notified under the same type processes already in education, finding, as with two other applications for regularization under consideration, illegal and are not allowed to engage in any gainful activity. Two people were arrested for illegal stay, as it had not complied with the notification for voluntary retirement that they had been made by the SEF in earlier time. Gifts to immediate court, was a particular installation on Temporary Installation Centre, awaiting clearance procedures, while the other was to measure duress periodic presentations, as is taught the corresponding coercive removal proceedings brought by the SEF. It was also held in compliance with judicial arrest warrant, another foreign national, returned to freedom after payment of the fine imposed by the court as an alternative to effective enforcement of imprisonment.

Were brought by the SEF fifteen administrative offense cases employers citizens detected in illegal situation, with total values ​​may fluctuate between 30,000 and 150,000 euros.

They were involved in the operation twenty-four operational.

PJ investigates couple who had sex with children to watch in Portugal River Beach

The Judicial Police is investigating the case involving a couple who practiced sex in a river beach in Paredes de Coura in the presence of a child.

According to source of the Territorial Command of the GNR of Viana do Castelo "event took place on Saturday at the river beach of Tabuão in broad daylight and was filmed by popular that released the video of the social networks."


According to one source, "the case was reported to the GNR for a person Sines who saw the video on social networks and called the GNR of Paredes de Coura."

"Proven truth of the facts alleged and the same contain criminal matters GNR up the police report and reported the case to the PJ for involving a minor and the video was posted on the Internet," said Lusa that source.

Contacted by Lusa to Braga board PJ sent clarifications to the next day by the specialized brigade will investigate the case.

The video about ten minutes long, shot on Saturday in full river beach of Tabuão, actual place of Paredes de Coura music festival, was later published on the internet and has sparked outrage and controversy that social network because the child living with the couple while this practice sex.

SEF reduces checks for lack of inspectors in Portugal

The Foreigners and Borders Service has reduced missions , in particular, inspections, due to lack of human resources , according knew JN .


According to the Portuguese great newspaper Journal de Noticias, Last year , the reduction was greater than 25% . Also lacking liaison officers in countries marked by terrorist movements , one of the largest international concerns . In addition, the inspectors framework has to be reduced : since 2004 entering no new elements , a police force that has 720 people.

The Algarve’s EN125 road has been classed by the Government as Portugal’s most dangerous road

The Algarve’s EN125 road has been classed by the Government as Portugal’s most dangerous road.

A protocol to implement an Intermunicipal Plan for Road Safety in the Algarve was signed in Faro with a view to improving the EN125’s unwanted title. 

According to newspaper Correio da Manhã a number of dignitaries and government representatives were at the signing, including the State Secretary for Home Affairs Jorge Gomes. Between 2010 and 2015, 66 people have lost their lives in accidents on the EN125. 

Meanwhile, the National Road Safety Authority has revealed that the number of fatalities on Portuguese roads during the first five months of the year has fallen by 20 percent in relation to the same period last year. 

While the number of fatalities dropped from 199 to 159, traffic collisions were up seven percent. The Algarve also followed this trend, with road deaths reduced by around a third on last year, while accidents with serious injuries were down ten percent, but the perception of danger on the region’s roads, especially on the EN125 was underlined by the fact that collisions resulting in minor or no injuries rose by 350 to just over 3,600 during the first five months of 2016.

Portugal is fifth most peaceful country in the world

Portugal fifth most peaceful country in the world

Despite its economic hardships, the Global Peace Index for 2016 has listed Portugal as one of the most peaceful countries in the world.

According to latest rankings, Portugal has climbed nine positions to hold fifth on the Index for this year and was also the country with the biggest improvements in Europe.

Iceland, Denmark, Austria and New Zealand are the only other countries to have recorded better ratings.

The United Kingdom comes in at 47^th, behind countries like Sierra Leone, Indonesia and Ghana.

Portugal Air force save 'about 1,000 migrants in 3 days' in Mediterranean

Portugal Air force helps save 'about 1,000 migrants in 3 days' in Mediterranean

Portugal's air force announced that it had helped rescue about 1,000 migrants in three days in the Mediterranean, lifting to almost 5,800 the total number of people saved in missions in which it has participated over the last two years.

In a statement, the air force said that it on Tuesday too part "in the rescue of about 250 illegal migrants, in the Mediterranean Sea" whose vessel ended up sinking.

"In the same mission a fishing boat was located that had been adrift since 27 May, on which day it was the subject of a rescue mission, as it constituted a danger to maritime safety," the statement said.

Saturday had seen a double rescue mission in which Portugal's air force too part with the saving of some 390 people on one vessel and about 360 on another.

"In a few days, the Air Force helped to save about a thousand migrants in FRONTEX's Operation TRITON," it stated.

According to the statement, Portugal's air force began participating in these missions run by the European Union's border agency Frontex in 2007, and has been a regular participant since 2011.

"In the last two years, the Air Force's C-295M and P3C CUP+ aircraft have already taken part in the rescue of more than 5.760 people in the Mediterranean Sea," it concluded.