Lisbon, Nov. 7, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's minister for internal affairs said on Thursday that the government has "done everything" to ensure that "the chaos" experienced at Lisbon airport "does not happen again", refusing to blame the PSP alone for the "critical situation".
"The situation at Lisbon airport is critical, but it's critical not just for reasons attributable to the PSP, which has taken on the role of air border police," said Maria Lúcia Amaral.
According to the minister, the responsibility "is also attributable to the management of the technological means that were and are required" by the new European border control system for non-EU citizens.
The minister, who is in parliament to present the government's proposal for the 2026 State Budget, was questioned by several MPs about the situation at Lisbon airport, where passengers have been faced with queues lasting several hours in recent days.
Constraints, especially at Lisbon airport, began to intensify on 12 October, when the new European border control system for non-EU citizens came into operation in Portugal and other Schengen countries.
This system provides for the electronic recording of the entry and exit of travellers from third countries, including the date, time, and border crossing point, replacing traditional passport stamps.
The minister said that "the government has done everything it can to ensure that the chaos experienced, and how damaging it was, particularly on the 14th, does not happen again", and that a task force has been set up.
According to Maria Lúcia Amaral, this task force is an emergency unit tasked with managing this crisis. It is composed of representatives from the Internal Security System (SSI), the Public Security Police, and airport management.
"We've been following the situation very closely daily, together with the Internal Administration, Infrastructures and the Ministry of the Presidency," she said.
Regarding the PSP's new National Foreigners and Borders Unit (UNEF), which began operating in August, the minister said that "a deadline of six months has been set for all of UNEF's territorial structures to be complete".
"By then, I believe that the UNEF will be definitively constituted," she said.
CMP/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
