Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal, June 9, 2026 (Lusa) - The president of Portugal said on Tuesday that “good relations” with the United States should be maintained and strengthened, whilst ensuring Europe’s “strategic autonomy” in matters of security and defence.
“I believe the two dimensions are perfectly complementary,” António José Seguro told journalists in Angra do Heroísmo, on the island of Terceira, where he arrived on Tuesday for Portugal Day celebrations and met with the Republic’s representative for the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Susana Goulart Costa.
When journalists asked about the appropriate time for a possible review of the cooperation and defence agreement between Portugal and the United States of America governing the use of Lajes Air Base, which he defended in January, whilst a presidential candidate, he considered that “this is an opportune moment to focus on other priorities” rather than discussing this matter.
When asked whether he had chosen to hold these celebrations on Terceira also as a way of asserting national sovereignty, because of Lajes Air Base, António José Seguro replied: “The president of Portugal affirms Portugal’s sovereignty every day, in every corner of our country.”
“He does so here in the Azores, on Terceira, just as he does in Trás-os-Montes, in Minho, in the Algarve, in Alentejo, in every corner of our country.
Affirming our sovereignty and defending our national independence is one of the noblest and most demanding of a president's tasks,” he added.
On relations with the United States of America, he noted that his positions are well known: “I am an advocate of maintaining NATO as a defence and security organisation, and I believe that we should have good relations with the United States of America. We must deepen these relations at all levels – economic, commercial and security.”
“We must also take a broader view of the Atlantic, embracing not only the United States of America but also Canada and Mercosur.
We have a universalist vocation, and we must give expression to that vocation through very concrete forms of cooperation,” he added.
Seguro went on to emphasise that his position in defence of “Europe’s strategic autonomy, particularly in matters of security and defence” is also well known, and that these are complementary.
The president preferred not to comment at this stage on how the PSD/CDS-PP coalition government has handled the issue of the United States’ use of Lajes Air Base in the context of the current war against Iran.
“Let us set aside discussions on such matters for now, as this is a time to celebrate Portugal; it is a time for our country to come together,” he explained, adding: “We will certainly have time and opportunity to address these issues.”
At the start of his speech, he mentioned that “being able to celebrate Portugal Day in the middle of the Atlantic” is “a rare privilege that only a few countries have the chance to enjoy”.
He then highlighted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the constitutional enshrinement of the regional autonomy of the Azores and Madeira, which “the whole country is celebrating”.
“National unity, the unity of the Portuguese people, is one of my main concerns, and that is also one of the reasons why I chose to hold the 10 June, to celebrate Portugal Day, Camões Day and Communities Day here in the Azores archipelago and more specifically on Terceira,” he stated.
As a presidential candidate, during a radio debate in January, António José Seguro said, regarding the agreement governing the use of Lajes Air Base by the United States of America: “This agreement on cooperation needs to be reviewed, not because there is any drama on the table, but because there is a need to update it.”
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