Bolieiro defends leadership of the Azores in science and ocean research

O president of the Azorean Government today stressed the strategic importance of the Azores Sea, arguing that the Region should assume a leading role in science, ocean protection, maritime security and technological innovation.

“The Azores are not a periphery of Europe”, but “an Atlantic centrality of Europe,” said the chief of the Azorean executive (PSD/CDS-P/PPM), at the presentation session “Azores: Science, Ocean and Future Atlantic”, which included a visit to the Azorean Ocean Research vessel, at the Ponta Delgada Maritime Terminal, on the island of São Miguel.

In his speech, José Manuel Bolieiro expressed pride in the maritime dimension of Portugal in the world and in the strategic contribution of the Azores Sea, considering it essential to strengthen the national and international recognition of this “active” for the future of the country.

“ What pride it is for me to express among you the dimension of the sea of Portugal in the world and the added value that the Sea of the Azores represents in it”, he stressed.

If “the Azores have to lead by example and by anticipation this alignment of Portugal and the European Union we will be here to take it with boldness and sense of responsibility,” he said, adding: “if the Azores have to be the beacon for the recognition of the true geopolitical and economic value of the Atlantic we will be here for the proper elimination necessary”.

José Manuel Bolieiro said that “a time of profound geopolitical transformation”, marked by the “competition between the great powers”, international conflicts, “hybrid threats”, which “replaced the Atlantic in the centre of European and transatlantic attentions”.

The president of the Azorean Government maintained that “the importance of the Azores is not only the result of its geography”, but “the ability to transform geography into knowledge, knowledge into capacity and capacity in development”.

José Manuel Bolieiro recalled that the Azores Sea represents about 56% of the Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and the territorial sea and EEZ associated with the Region are close to one million square kilometers, a size that can increase with “the success of the extension process of the continental shelf”.

“ This dimension gives us enormous responsibility: to know, protect, monitor, investigate and value. For this reason, we have been building a real public policy for the ocean”, he said.

In this context, he highlighted the construction of a regional public policy for the ocean, based on the ambition to transform marine protection into knowledge, innovation, competitiveness and prosperity, pointing the Blue Azores program as one of the pillars of this strategy, as well as the creation of the Network of Protected Marine Areas of the Azores.

However, José Manuel Bolieiro warned that the designation of protected areas represents only “the beginning”, and it is now necessary to “guarantee its effective management”.

In this context, it stressed the importance of the research ship Azores Ocean, which gives “a new scientific capacity” to the Azores and is a fundamental tool for deepening knowledge about the ocean.

The ship carried out its first mission between October 26 and November 3.

According to José Manuel Bolieiro, the first scientific mission was dedicated “to the characterization of Azorean marine ecosystems, including deep-sea habitats and collection of reference information for the future monitoring of the Protected Marine Area Network”.

The head of the Azorean executive considered that the future requires a greater articulation between science, environment, technology, security and defense, considering that the Azores are able to develop a true Atlantic ecosystem of science and innovation.

In the international dimension, José Manuel Bolieiro also advocated that it is necessary to “renew the transatlantic relationship for the 21st century”, stating that “the ocean and space must be two major platforms of this renewal”.

Addressing the president of the Luso-American Foundation for Development (FLAD), José Manuel Durão Barroso, present at the session, defended a common ambition: “make the Azores a place where the Atlantic is studied, protected and understood, where science strengthens sovereignty, where conservation generates value and where technology strengthens security and where geographical position creates opportunities for new generations”.