The minister said that the number of terrorist combatants abroad is not significant, and nor is the number of people wishing to return to Portugal, but that the government "certainly in a very short time frame will find a solution and give an answer to those who really want to return."

Van Dunem stressed that the government has the a precise notion of the number of Portuguese nationals who went abroad to fight for terror groups, how many are alive and how many of their relatives still remain in refugee camps.

She also argued that, with regard to the desire on the part of former fighters and their families to return home, states should seek to adopt "common positions" as far as possible, as a matter of "foreign policy".

For his part, the PJ director said that in Syria and Iraq "there are a set of combatants and families seeking to leave the places where they are located" and that this is currently a "matter of concern and debate". The authorities in home countries “must find the best route to respond to the needs of our homeland security and also the rights people have

As for the risks faced by Portugal, the minister stressed that the country is currently "quiet, calm and considered one of the safest in the world" thanks to police action, intelligence services, international cooperation, but that "there is no zero risk in the context of terrorism."

Van Dunem stressed that the deaths of all Portuguese nationals killed by terrorist acts had taken place abroad, but that combatting and preventing this phenomenon is a global challenge for all police and security forces.

Asked whether Portugal is an "oasis" in a Europe that has seen multiple terror attacks in recent years, Neves dismissed that, stressing that fighting terror is a joint commitment for all countries, although each faces "different degrees of threat".

While Portugal is "relatively peripheral”, that “does not strictly” determine what may or may not happen, he said, stressing the need for a "proactive attitude" in order to "be able to detect signs of radicalisation or some kind of terrorist activity [in a] timely" way.