Strip away the Atlantic, and Portugal becomes only numbers
On the island of Terceira, former Portuguese foreign minister Paulo Portas reminded an international gathering that a nation's true weight in the world is not found in economic ledgers but in the depth of its relationships and the permanence of its geography. Speaking at the International Lajes Conference, he argued that Portugal's Atlantic ties — to Latin America, Africa, and Asia — are the source of an influence that transcends GDP, and that the Azores, far from being a relic of Cold War strategy, remain a living bridge between continents and ambitions. In a moment when much is shifting, he offered history and geography as the enduring foundations of Portuguese relevance.
- Portugal risks being reduced to a footnote in European councils if it allows its Atlantic identity to erode into mere economic statistics.
- The Azores sit at the center of a quiet but consequential contest over how small nations assert themselves in a world reshaped by new technologies and new threats.
- A space initiative on Santa Maria island signals that the archipelago is reaching beyond its Cold War legacy toward collaborations that could serve both European and American interests simultaneously.
- The regional government of the Azores is pushing back against being treated as a strategic asset managed from Lisbon, demanding that local interests be written into any defense cooperation agreements.
- American and Portuguese officials at the conference struck a tone of continuity and opportunity, suggesting that bilateral ties are durable enough to outlast any particular administration or political moment.
Paulo Portas took the stage in Praia da Vitória, on the island of Terceira, and made an argument that Portugal's place in the world cannot be read from a balance sheet. Speaking at the International Lajes Conference — organized by the Luso-American Foundation for Development on its fortieth anniversary — the former foreign minister laid out a vision of Portuguese influence built not on economic size but on the Atlantic relationships that bind the country to Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Shorn of those ties, Portugal becomes a set of statistics. Sustained by them, it earns a voice in European forums and international organizations that money alone cannot purchase.
The Azores, Portas argued, are the physical heart of this strategy. The Lajes military base gave Portugal its seat as a NATO founding member during the Cold War, but the archipelago has more to offer now. A space initiative taking shape on Santa Maria island represents a new chapter of collaboration — one that serves European interests without creating friction with Washington. Portas was careful to frame Atlantic engagement not as a rival to European commitment but as its amplifier: the deeper Portugal's special relationships across the ocean, the stronger its voice on the continent. When the world shifts, he said, history and geography remain — and those are the bedrock of the Portugal-United States relationship.
The conference brought together voices that reinforced this sense of continuity. Rita Rico, the newly arrived US consul in Ponta Delgada, spoke of American and Portuguese military personnel working side by side at Lajes and expressed enthusiasm for the Santa Maria space center. Jack Martins, a New York state senator of Portuguese heritage, saw only opportunities to draw the two nations closer. But it was Azores regional president José Manuel Bolieiro who introduced the sharpest note: he called for a refined Defense and Cooperation Agreement and warned Lisbon that security in the region cannot be built without respecting the region itself. The Azores, he made clear, are not merely a strategic asset to be administered from afar — they are a place with interests of their own, and those interests demand a seat at the table.
Paulo Portas stood before an international audience on the island of Terceira and made a case that Portugal's true weight in the world cannot be measured in spreadsheets. The former foreign minister, who held the portfolio from 2011 to 2015, was speaking at the International Lajes Conference, an event organized by the Luso-American Foundation for Development and held in the town of Praia da Vitória. His argument was straightforward but consequential: strip away Portugal's Atlantic relationships—the historical and linguistic ties that bind it to Latin America, Africa, and Asia—and the country becomes merely a set of economic statistics: GDP, population, debt. Keep those relationships intact, and Portugal gains something far more valuable in European forums and international organizations: influence that money alone cannot buy.
Portas framed the Atlantic as the connective tissue of Portuguese strategy, and he pointed to the Azores as the physical embodiment of that idea. The archipelago, he suggested, should not be reduced to the military base at Lajes, though that base remains historically significant. Portugal became a founding member of NATO, Portas argued, precisely because of the strategic privilege that Lajes represented during the Cold War. But the Azores hold more cards to play now. A space initiative taking shape in Santa Maria, on another island in the chain, represents a future collaboration that serves European interests without creating friction with the United States—a delicate balance that Portas saw as both possible and valuable.
The former defense minister (2002-2005) and onetime leader of the CDS-PP party was careful not to frame Atlantic engagement as opposed to European commitment. The choice was not between the ocean and the continent, between Atlanticism and Europeanism. Rather, he saw them as reinforcing. The more Portugal cultivated its special relationships across the Atlantic world, the stronger its voice became in the councils where it already sat. When everything shifts around a nation—and Portas acknowledged that much is shifting now—two things remain constant: history and geography. These, he insisted, are the bedrock of the Portugal-United States relationship and the reason the Azores matter to it.
Portas also offered a cool-eyed view of bilateral relations. Governments deal with governments, not personalities. Leaders come and go, but state interests endure. This was a subtle signal that Portugal's relationship with Washington transcends any particular administration or individual leader. The bonds run deeper than the people who temporarily hold power.
The conference itself brought together voices that underscored this continuity. Rita Rico, the new United States consul in Ponta Delgada, had been in her post for a month when she spoke. She emphasized the daily connection between the Azores and America, noting that Portuguese and American military personnel work side by side at Lajes. She expressed particular enthusiasm about the space center in Santa Maria and the collaborative possibilities it might unlock. Jack Martins, a New York state senator and Portuguese-American, saw room to deepen ties between the two countries and detected no major threats in the relationship—only opportunities to draw the nations closer.
José Manuel Bolieiro, president of the Azores regional government, took a more pointed stance. He called for refinement of the Defense and Cooperation Agreement between Portugal and the United States, and he issued a warning to Lisbon: it is impossible to create the conditions for security in the region without respecting the region itself. The message was clear—the Azores cannot be treated as a mere strategic asset to be managed from afar. They are a place with interests of their own.
The conference, held over Thursday and Friday under the theme "Azores: From Ocean to Space," marked forty years of the Luso-American Foundation's work. In that span, the strategic landscape has shifted dramatically. The Cold War is long over. New technologies and new threats have emerged. Yet the fundamental geography remains, and with it, the Azores' claim on the attention of powers far larger than Portugal itself.
Citas Notables
Portugal's Atlantic relationships and linguistic ties to Latin America, Africa, and Asia provide more strategic influence in Europe than GDP alone could ever deliver— Paulo Portas
It is impossible to create conditions for security in the region without respecting the region itself— José Manuel Bolieiro, Azores regional government president
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does Portas keep insisting that Portugal's power isn't just economic? Doesn't every country want to be richer?
Because Portugal is small. Its GDP will never compete with Germany or France. But its language reaches 250 million people across three continents. That's a different kind of asset—one that doesn't show up in quarterly reports but shapes how Portugal sits at the table.
So the Atlantic relationships are a kind of compensation for being a smaller European economy?
Not compensation. Multiplication. They're what allow Portugal to punch above its weight in NATO, in the EU, in international forums. Without them, Portugal is just another mid-sized European country. With them, it's a bridge between worlds.
The Azores keep coming up. Is it really just about the military base?
The base matters historically, but Portas is saying the Azores are becoming something else—a hub for space initiatives, for technology, for future collaboration. The base anchors the relationship; the space center expands it.
Bolieiro's warning about respecting the region—what was he really saying?
That Lisbon can't treat the Azores as a chess piece to move around in the game with Washington. The islands have their own interests, their own economy, their own future. Any agreement that ignores that will eventually break.
Does this strategy actually work, or is Portas just defending an old framework?
It's working in the sense that Portugal remains relevant to NATO and the United States in ways that pure economics wouldn't guarantee. Whether it's sustainable depends on whether Portugal can actually deliver on the promise—whether the space initiatives materialize, whether the defense agreements evolve, whether the Azores themselves thrive.