Funchal, Portgal, Oct. 2, 2026 (Lusa) - The head of the Regional Government of Madeira (PSD/CDS-PP), Miguel Albuquerque, argued on Friday that Portugal's «entire foreign policy» should be geared towards strengthening its strategic position in the Atlantic through its two autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.
«We are talking about investment in the monitoring, maintenance and security of submarine cables, and work needs to be carried out on ports, logistics centres and airports,» he said, emphasising that the island of Porto Santo lies 500 kilometres off the African coast and that the Azores archipelago shares a maritime border with the United States.
The Madeiran premier was speaking in Funchal at a conference entitled «Is there a new world order? Global challenges in security, defence and geopolitics», which was included in a series of debates marking 50 years of political autonomy.
«All foreign policy must now be geared towards strengthening Portugal's geopolitical position in the Atlantic,» he stated.
Albuquerque emphasised that Portugal is an «ultra-peripheral country» in Europe and, as such, can only gain significance through an «Atlantic policy», maintaining that «any attempt to pursue a continental policy is doomed to failure».
«The two archipelagos [Madeira and the Azores] provide geopolitical significance,» he said, before adding: «All policies must be geared towards strengthening Portugal's strategic position through these two archipelagos.» Former ministers António Martins da Cruz and Paulo Portas, who were speakers at the conference, expressed the same view regarding the importance of the autonomous regions in the current international geopolitical context.
«Madeira plays a very important role in the stability of Portuguese foreign policy,» said António Martins da Cruz, former minister of foreign affairs and Portuguese Communities, noting that Portugal is a European country from a political and economic point of view, but that from a strategic point of view it is an Atlantic country.
«Madeira plays a key role and makes a decisive contribution to Portugal's stability and international standing,» he stated.
Paulo Portas also argued that Madeira «adds value» to Portugal and to Europe.
«The Atlantic and archipelagic dimension that Portugal possesses in Madeira and the Azores brings to the European Union experience, history, interesting capabilities and good relations with the United States – relations that do not depend on specific presidents,» he said.
The former deputy prime minister, who also served as defence minister and minister of foreign affairs, referred, on the other hand, to the war in Ukraine, emphasising that it stems from Russian imperialism, and highlighted the resilience of the Ukrainians, even in the face of the «loss of supplies from the United States» under President Donald Trump's administration.
«I have great admiration for this and I am certain that, if Putin is not stopped in Ukraine, he will be tempted to cross the border of the European Union and NATO into the Baltic states,» he said.
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