The President of the Government participated in the meeting of the Permanent Bilateral Commission of the Defence and Cooperation Agreement between Portugal and the USA. He defended the need for a more effective and expeditious action in the environmental component, following the U.S. decision to reduce its presence at Lajes Air Base.
 
"At this meeting, there were some issues that deserved special attention" regarding the specific case of Lajes Air Base, such as the environmental impact of the U.S. military presence in Lajes, said Vasco Cordeiro.
 
"We emphasised the need for a more effective and faster approach on the issues arising in this context," stressed the President of the Government. He added that the issue on the infrastructures used by U.S. forces was also under discussion at the meeting. Currently, there is an ongoing process to determine their ownership, after the resizing of the U.S. military and civilian presence in Lajes.
 
With regard to employment, Vasco Cordeiro revealed that the situation was assessed and, in this context, he considered a "positive aspect" the fact that there were no outright redundancies among Portuguese workers; there were terminations by mutual agreement.
 
The meeting also addressed "project for the Azores International Research Centre - AIR Centre, which extends the importance of the Azores not only in the context of this bilateral relationship, but also in the context of the external projection of our country in science and knowledge," highlighted the President of the Government.
 
According to him, this is particularly relevant in the perspective of organising, early next year, a major international conference on the "project of turning the Region into a hub for the dissemination of skills and knowledge on different areas, such as atmospheric sciences and space, climate change, energy and marine sciences.
 
According to Vasco Cordeiro, this meeting of the Permanent Bilateral Commission took place in a very particular moment, during the transition process between the Obama and Trump administrations, a matter that was not under discussion at the meeting held in Sintra. 
 
"Nevertheless, we have been following this matter, namely with regard to the impact it might have on the relation between Portugal and the United States insofar as Lajes is one of its main pillars," said the President of the Government.
 
The Permanent Bilateral Commission is a body established by the Agreement on Cooperation and Defence between Portugal and the USA in 1995. It is in charge of promoting the implementation of this agreement and cooperation between both countries.