The Minister for Foreign Affairs has said she does not support the presidency of ousted Nicolás Maduro but she is “extremely concerned” by recent actions taken.
Helen McEntee said she did not think Mr Maduro was legitimately in place, but it was for the “people of Venezuela to decide there future”.
“I am extremely concerned, as I think many are, at the actions that have been taken ... I am extremely concerned that there is a suggestion that international law may not have been upheld,” she told media at Stormont on Wednesday.
The Minister said she would be engaging with United Nations colleagues this week and would be stressing that “international law must be upheld and the UN charter must be upheld”. This applies to every country, including the US, she added.
READ MORE
Meanwhile, she said the US embassy has assured the Government it complied with a legal agreement regarding the flight of its naval aircraft over Irish airspace earlier this week.
Ms McEntee confirmed that the embassy was contacted after it emerged that two more US aircraft had flown over Irish sovereign airspace while tracking a ship in the North Atlantic, which attempted to collect oil from Venezuela last month.
Ms McEntee said she had asked her officials to “engage further” and provide a full report on the incidents.
“It’s important I see that,” she said.
[ Two more US aircraft fly over Ireland to track oil tanker under Russian flagOpens in new window ]
The US aircraft flew over a patch of sea just off the northern tip of Co Donegal on Tuesday at about 5.30pm, travelling between the mainland and the island of Inishtrahull.
A second aircraft entered Irish airspace after 8pm, around Wexford, en route to the Atlantic.
A similar aircraft flew over the middle of Ireland on Monday before returning to its UK base via the same route.
Ms McEntee said a long-standing legal agreement between Ireland and the US was in place in relation to the use of foreign military aircraft.
“We’ve been in touch with the US embassy and they’ve assured us that they have complied with the 1959 agreement,” she told reporters on Wednesday.
“They’ve been very clear that they have complied.”
She added that it was “not unusual” for ships or naval fleets to fly or sail “in or around the economic zone”.
“They’re monitored by our own defence forces,” she said.
