Use by the United States military of Portugal’s Lajes airbase, on the Azores’ island of Terceira, is reported to be more intense than at any point in the current conflict with Iran.
A fleet of aircraft arrived last night including six supersonic F-18 fighter jets (from the U.S. Navy), five electronic warfare aircraft, 18 Boeing KC-46 tankers and two C-130 transport aircraft.
Citing the New York Times, SIC Notícias reports that the planes flew in “at a time that the U.S. is preparing to send thousands of soldiers to the Middle East. According to the New York Times there are around 2,500 naval marines and three battleships” on the way.
TSF Rádio confirms that more planes are using Lajes than at any time during the current conflict.
But while the use of Lajes increases, SIC suggests that Donald Trump has announced that he will be approving the withdrawal of the U.S. from airbases in NATO countries ‘like Spain’ because they have not been cooperating over the Strait of Hormuz.
This is interesting mainly because Portugal is one of those NATO countries refusing to collaborate over Hormuz. Foreign Affairs minister Paulo Rangel only highlighted the fact in Brussels yesterday – yet there is no indication today that the U.S. is pulling out of Lajes.
Reporting from the scene, Expresso photographer Rui Caria has uploaded a number of photographs of planes taking off from the base. It was his observation that 17 took off in a space of minutes this afternoon.
Meantime, the geostrategic importance of Lajes continues to be a political hot potato in the archipelago. The vice-president of the regional government, Artur Lima, said: “Lajes Air Base must continue to serve international security, but it must also serve the development of the Azores and the future of Portugal. We do not accept that Lajes Air Base should be viewed merely as a strategic point on a global defence map.”
Lima was speaking in the plenary session of the Regional Assembly in Horta, during an urgent debate requested by CHEGA on the “strategic assessment” of the base.
The Regional government’s number two pointed out that the base has been a “key element in successive negotiations between Portugal and the United States”, which shows that US administrations “have always had an interest” in it.
“In each of these negotiations, the Azores have been denied fair and due compensation – something the Portuguese Republic may not have felt – and it is undeniable that successive governments have systematically failed to defend the interests of the Azores,” he said – concluding with the observation that “Autonomy is not an abstract concept. It is practised here, in the heart of the Atlantic. May the future of Lajes be written with the ink of progress for our Autonomous Region, and with the guarantee that the well-being of our people takes precedence over any national expediency.”
Source: SIC Notícias