The Atlantic has always shaped the destiny of the Azores. For centuries, the islands existed not at the margins of history, but within its crossings — a geography suspended between continents, wars, migrations, cables, storms, and empires. Now, according to José Manuel Bolieiro, president of the Governo Regional dos Açores, that centrality is once again becoming impossible to ignore.

In an interview granted to the Lisbon newspaper Diário de Notícias on May 13, the regional leader argued that the archipelago should actively welcome an expanded military presence from Portugal, the United States, and other members of NATO, framing the Azores as an increasingly strategic platform within the evolving architecture of transatlantic security.

Speaking on the sidelines of the first Conference of the Regions in Ponta Delgada, Bolieiro emphasized what he described as the archipelago’s growing geopolitical relevance amid shifting global tensions and renewed attention to Atlantic defense corridors.

In one of the interview’s most striking moments, the Azorean leader directly challenged the United States administration to consider transferring military assets and troops potentially being withdrawn from other European theaters to the Lajes Air Base — the historic mid-Atlantic installation that for decades served as one of the most important logistical and strategic points linking North America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

At the same time, Bolieiro argued for a substantial reinforcement of the capabilities of the Marinha Portuguesa and the Força Aérea Portuguesa in Azorean waters, insisting that the vast maritime dimension of the region’s Exclusive Economic Zone requires not merely symbolic sovereignty, but concrete operational capacity.

According to the regional president, the defense of the Azorean sea demands both physical presence and advanced sensing technologies capable of monitoring and protecting underwater infrastructures while deterring possible terrorist threats or acts of sabotage.

Yet the vision articulated by Bolieiro extends far beyond military strategy alone.

Alongside defense and security, the regional government is simultaneously engaged in discussions with Google regarding potential technological investments in the archipelago. Among the projects reportedly under consideration are the installation of one or two new submarine fiber-optic cable landing systems and, eventually, the development of a major data center infrastructure in the region.

For Bolieiro, the geographic position of the Azores offers unique advantages in addressing one of the defining technological challenges of the digital age: latency in global data transmission. He argued that the islands possess a rare convergence of conditions increasingly sought by major technological infrastructures — renewable energy capacity, abundant cooling water, physical security, and deep surrounding oceanic conditions averaging nearly three kilometers in depth.

The broader objective, he explained, is not merely to attract investment, but to create substantial royalties and long-term economic returns capable of being reinvested directly into social cohesion, territorial balance, and economic development across the islands.

Underlying the strategy is an awareness shared across many Atlantic island societies: that demographic survival now depends upon creating economies capable of retaining younger generations and attracting highly qualified professionals.

For the Azorean government, that future increasingly lies within sectors once unimaginable for a remote volcanic archipelago — digital infrastructure, renewable energy, ocean science, aerospace industries, and advanced environmental technologies.

In that context, Bolieiro also highlighted the growing importance of the space industry project on Santa Maria Island, focused on satellite launches and environmentally sustainable recovery systems for capsules and microsatellites.

The regional president concluded by pointing to the Azores’ growing international prestige, including the recent Peter Benchley Ocean Award recognition and the archipelago’s distinction with the gold medal for sustainable tourism awarded by EarthCheck.

For Bolieiro, these recognitions reinforce a larger ambition: transforming the Azores into what he described as a global scientific and strategic laboratory where digital transition, climate transition, energy innovation, and Atlantic geopolitics converge.

In many ways, the vision evokes an older Azorean reality reimagined for the twenty-first century. The islands that once connected sailing routes and military convoys across the Atlantic may now seek to connect data, renewable energy, scientific research, aerospace technologies, and new geopolitical alignments. The ocean remains the same. What changes is the nature of what now travels across it.

Translaed and adapted from a story in Diário Insular-José Lourenço-director.