Portugal to speed up citizenship process for Hamas hostage

Portugal’s justice minister will speed up the process of analysing the request for Portuguese citizenship made by an Israeli hostage of the Islamist movement Hamas, Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho said on Monday, describing the matter as one of “great urgency”.

Speaking to the Portuguese press at the end of a meeting of EU diplomacy heads in Luxembourg, the Portuguese minister noted that it was “a matter of great sensitivity”, which the minister for justice “is looking at (…) with all the urgency, with all the awareness of the delicacy of the matter”.

“Each application for Portuguese nationality is an individual case and is being dealt with individually, so there is no general decision on this matter, but it is clear that, given the circumstances, there is great urgency in the case,” said Gomes Cravinho.

“I can’t say how long it will take, but in any case, there are always multiple stages in the process of granting nationality. I can say that the Ministry of Justice is seeing how it can speed up the whole process without obviously incurring any risk in legal terms,” he added.

Earlier on Monday, Justice Minister Catarina Sarmento e Castro promised “maximum speed” in analysing the request, stressing that “exceptional situations deserve exceptional decisions”.

When questioned by the media on the sidelines of signing a protocol with the Red Cross in Ponta Delgada, Azores, Sarmento e Castro said: “Exceptional situations deserve exceptional decisions. We are currently assessing the situation as quickly as possible so that we can respond.”

Without detailing the case, she emphasised that it is the “hallmark of the Ministry of Justice” to “protect the fundamental rights” of citizens.

At issue is a report in Público about the request for nationality of an Israeli citizen being held hostage by Hamas.

In a written response to Lusa, the Justice Ministry said it was “analysing this request with the necessary sense of urgency, in close coordination with other areas of government, namely foreign affairs, given the context on the ground”.

In the same response, the ministry recalls that “any request for nationality implies consultations with different entities”.

(Ana Matos Neves, edited by Cristina Cardoso | Lusa.pt)