“I have no doubt that this partnership will strengthen military cooperation between our two countries, intensify what are already excellent bilateral relations and the strong diplomatic, commercial and cultural ties that unite Portugal and the United States,” said Nuno Melo.

The minister was speaking at a ceremony that took place at the Ministry of National Defense, in Lisbon, and which marked Portugal's accession to the “U.S. National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program”, a program of the US National Guard, which involves more than one hundred partners internationally.

Alongside the US ambassador in Lisbon, Randi Charno Levine, Nuno Melo said that Portugal and the US are “historic allies”, highlighting that, as founders of NATO, the two countries have contributed “to the preservation of peace and security in Euro-Atlantic area” over the last 75 years.

“This is a milestone of a significant step in our cooperation in the area of ​​defense, in which the United States remains an absolutely strategic partner, but whose significance we must, above all, emphasize because it is a partnership that reinforces cooperation military of the Armed Forces with what is the main power on a global scale”, highlighted the minister.

This North American program, created in 1993, foresees the holding of joint exercises, which will involve the national Armed Forces, the sharing of specialized knowledge in response to disasters and “collaborative efforts in addressing mutual security and defense challenges”.

“It is the Armed Forces that are reinforced with the National Guard, and it is the United States National Guard that is also enriched with the direct cooperation of the Armed Forces and the Portuguese military, who are very experienced”, highlighted Nuno Melo.

The minister highlighted the “very productive cooperation” he has maintained in recent months with Ambassador Randi Charno Levine – who has already announced that she will resign from her post next week, on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration – and stated that her commitment was “decisive” for the completion of Portugal's accession to this program.

Randi Charno Levine also highlighted that the relationship between Portugal and the US in terms of security “is one of the strongest aspects” of bilateral ties between the two countries.

“The United States and Portugal share an unwavering commitment to global security, rooted in decades of partnership and shared global deployments,” stressed the diplomat who took up the post in Portugal in 2022.

Randi Charno Levine emphasized that the process of joining the “U.S. The National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program “is highly competitive” and that the fact that Portugal was selected “demonstrates the regard that the U.S. Government and the U.S. Armed Forces have for the Portuguese Armed Forces and that they are excited to work together.”

The ambassador maintained that Portugal's strategic location and its contributions to NATO missions “underscore its vital role in safeguarding the transatlantic alliance,” confessing that some of her fondest memories in the role were spent on military engagements.

“Our security cooperation is solid and varied,” stressed the ambassador, who defined the Lajes Air Base, in the Azores, as “the most tangible and important symbol” of this military cooperation, an infrastructure in which the American government “has invested more money than ever in 2023”.