A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon takes off from Lajes Field in the Azores in 2022. The base in the Portuguese island chain provides an important mid-Atlantic link for U.S. and allied forces traveling to and from Europe, Africa and the Middle East. (Edgar Grimaldo/U.S. Air Force)
NATO ally Portugal is doubling down on its intent to raise defense spending only slightly, even as leaders in the bloc warn of the dangers from Russian long-range bombers to a country that hosts a strategic U.S. airfield.
“The threats from Russia may seem distant, but let me assure you, it is not,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday, speaking alongside Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro. “Russian ships and long-range bombers menace the Portuguese coast.”
Rutte’s visit to Lisbon came as pressure intensifies on NATO to meet U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands for big increases in defense spending. Last week, Trump called on allies to boost levels from the current benchmark of 2% of gross domestic product to 5%.
But Portugal falls short of even the 2% mark, which it says it won’t reach until 2029. That’s five years later than a deadline imposed by NATO in 2014 that said members should be at 2% by 2024.
Allies closer to Russia’s border have been quicker to elevate defense outlays, but southern European countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, all of which have U.S. military bases and sites on their territory, have lagged.
The Azores, a chain of Portuguese islands in the Atlantic Ocean, are where the U.S. Air Force maintains Lajes Field, a logistics hub for American and allied forces.
For Rutte, the central challenge of his term as NATO’s top official will be getting allies reluctant to go big on defense spending to showcase more urgency on an issue that will dominate Trump’s approach to the alliance.
In Lisbon, Rutte told Montenegro that the allies need to prepare for larger defense spending commitments “to guarantee our security in the future.”
Montenegro said Monday that there was a possibility his country could speed up the timetable for getting to the 2% target.
During Trump’s first term, laggard defense spending by Germany was one reason Trump cited in calling for the withdrawal of 12,000 U.S. troops from that country.
Lajes Field, hosted on a Portuguese air base, is home to the 65th Air Base Group. The location has the ability to act as a power projection platform for bombers and fighters and also serves as a refueling stopping point.
