At a CNN Portugal conference on Europe’s evolving security landscape, the President of the Azorean Regional Government calls for stronger investment in maritime security, critical infrastructure, scientific research, and European strategic autonomy.
Geography has given the Azores a place in the world that their modest landmass could never fully explain. Scattered across the immensity of the Atlantic, the nine islands are far more than the westernmost expression of Portuguese territory. They are a meeting point of continents, a crossroads of maritime routes, a guardian of oceanic communications, and an increasingly important frontier in Europe’s search for security and strategic autonomy. For centuries, their position has shaped the movement of people, commerce, and military power. Today, as international tensions reshape the meaning of security, that same geography is acquiring renewed significance. The central question is whether Portugal and Europe are prepared to transform the Azores’ extraordinary geographical position into the investment, infrastructure, and operational capabilities necessary to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.
That was the principal message delivered by the President of the Regional Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro, during the CNN Portugal conference titled “European Security in Transformation: Shaping Autonomy, Inspiring Local Action,” held at Portugal’s Military University Institute (Instituto Universitário Militar).
Speaking in a session devoted to “Atlantic Strategic Depth: Maritime Security, Critical Infrastructure, and European Resilience,” Bolieiro argued that the archipelago’s geostrategic importance must be recognized through concrete investment by Portugal, the European Union, and NATO.
“The Azores represent a fundamental strategic platform for maritime security, communications, scientific knowledge, and Portugal’s international projection,” he declared.
Bolieiro emphasized that Portugal’s significance within Europe cannot be measured solely by its continental territory or population. Its maritime and Atlantic dimensions, substantially reinforced by the Azores, give the country a geographical importance extending far beyond its land boundaries.
“It is this Atlantic dimension that Portugal, together with the Azores, brings to Europe, to NATO, and to the world,” he stated.
The Azorean leader noted that the archipelago accounts for approximately 56% of Portugal’s Exclusive Economic Zone, underscoring its importance to the country’s maritime jurisdiction and Atlantic presence.
He argued that this geographical advantage must be translated into operational capabilities, including ocean surveillance, protection of critical infrastructure, and stronger security and defense resources.
“Investing in the Azores means strengthening maritime security, strategic autonomy, and Europe’s resilience in the Atlantic,” Bolieiro said.
Among the infrastructure he identified as strategically important were the ports of Ponta Delgada, Praia da Vitória, Horta, and Lajes das Flores, together with Lajes Air Base, Santa Maria’s airport facilities, and the submarine communications networks connecting the islands to the wider world.
The modernization of submarine fiber-optic cables linking mainland Portugal, the Azores, and Madeira was another central concern.
Bolieiro stressed that these communications systems are essential not only to regional connectivity but also to the security and resilience of national and European infrastructure.
He called for investment from Portugal, the European Union, and NATO in Azorean port and airport facilities, emphasizing that improvements could serve both civilian and military purposes while supporting economic competitiveness and regional development.
The Regional Government President also highlighted the growing importance of scientific research and technological innovation in strengthening the archipelago’s Atlantic role.
He cited regional initiatives including a new scientific research vessel, the development of the MARTEC technology center, and the use of drones for maritime observation.
These investments, he suggested, demonstrate how scientific knowledge, environmental monitoring, and technological capabilities can contribute to broader security objectives.
Marine conservation also featured prominently in his remarks.
Bolieiro pointed to the implementation of the Azores Marine Protected Areas Network, covering 30% of the region’s surrounding waters, as an important contribution to national and international biodiversity conservation commitments.
The inclusion of environmental protection within a discussion of security reflects a broader understanding of the Atlantic’s strategic importance. The ocean is not simply a military or commercial corridor; it is also an ecological system whose preservation is inseparable from the long-term sustainability of island communities.
Throughout his address, Bolieiro returned to the need for Portugal and its European partners to reconsider the meaning of the Azores’ geographical position.
For the archipelago, distance from continental Europe has historically been interpreted as a condition of peripherality. Yet in maritime, communications, and defense terms, that same location places the islands at a critical intersection between Europe and North America.
The challenge, according to the Azorean leader, is to translate this geographical reality into political recognition and sustained investment.
“It is about transforming periphery into centrality,” Bolieiro summarized.
His remarks also placed the Azores within a larger European discussion about strategic autonomy, the protection of critical infrastructure, and the ability of European countries to respond to changing international security conditions.
The conference brought together political leaders, military officials, and national and international specialists, including Portuguese Minister of National Defense Nuno Melo; NATO Military Committee Chairman Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone; and Andrea Tassoni, Head of the Executive Office of the European Maritime Safety Agency.
Other participants included António Lagartixo, CEO of Deloitte Portugal, and Ellen E. McCarthy, CEO of Truth Media and a former senior United States intelligence official.
The institutional opening featured Vice Admiral António Vizinha Mirones, Commander of the Military University Institute.
For the Azores, the significance of the discussion extends beyond defense policy. Investments in ports, airports, submarine communications, maritime research, and surveillance technologies could also influence the archipelago’s economic development, scientific capabilities, and international connections.
At the same time, the realization of that potential depends on whether the strategic importance repeatedly attributed to the islands is matched by financial commitments and operational improvements.
The Atlantic has always given the Azores a geographical significance disproportionate to their population and physical size. What is changing is the international context in which that geography is understood.
In an era when maritime security, undersea communications, scientific knowledge, and environmental resilience have become increasingly interconnected, the archipelago occupies a position that invites renewed attention from Portugal, Europe, and NATO.
Bolieiro’s central argument was that the Azores should no longer be viewed merely as distant islands on Europe’s western horizon, but as an integral part of its Atlantic security architecture.
The question now is how that recognition will be reflected in investment and policy.
For the Azores, the ocean has never been simply the distance separating the islands from the rest of the world. It has also been the vast geography connecting them to it. And in the emerging strategic landscape of the Atlantic, that geography may become one of their most consequential assets.
Based on statements by José Manuel Bolieiro, President of the Regional Government of the Azores, at the CNN Portugal conference “European Security in Transformation: Shaping Autonomy, Inspiring Local Action,” held at the Instituto Universitário Militar. Also based on a story in Diário dos Açores, Paulo Viveiros, director. The photo is from the government of the Azores,