The President of the Government stated today that the meeting of the Permanent Bilateral Commission marks a new phase in the environmental decontamination process on Terceira Island, from a political and diplomatic perspective. Nevertheless, he warned that this approach does not mean that this issue is solved.
 
"I can say that I believe that the matter has entered a new phase from a political and diplomatic perspective. However, the fact that it has entered a new phase does not mean that it has reached its destination or that it is solved," said Vasco Cordeiro, after taking part in the meeting held Thursday in Lisbon.
 
Speaking to journalists, the President of the Government said the meeting of the Permanent Bilateral Commission between Portugal and the United States addressed the Lajes Air Base process as one of its agenda items. It represents a new approach marked by renewed and increased attention to the issue of decontamination.
 
This new approach entails a broader assumption of the various aspects concerning this subject, considering that the issue is not only about public health and safety matters but also about environmental quality. Moreover, it involves the informal assumption that it is necessary to schedule the implementation of concrete and visible decontamination measures.
 
"Effectively, it is necessary that this new awareness for the relevance of this matter in the context of the relations with the USA translates into three practical results" in terms of concrete and visible measures. They should focus not only on monitoring actions, but also on the effective decontamination of areas where contamination is proven and in all others where it may be eventually proven. These measures should include the reinforcement of public information and transparency mechanisms regarding what is being done or not, according to technical and scientific criteria. Lastly, we need a demanding and feasible calendar for visible noticeable developments about this matter, said the President of the Government.
 
According to Vasco Cordeiro, after this meeting, the Azorean Government is clear and defined: six months or the next meeting of the Permanent Bilateral Commission, whichever is the first, will be the appropriate timetable for assessing whether this new approach materializes in visible and concrete results.
 
The President of the Government also recalled that, following the previous meeting, held in Washington on May 11, he had the opportunity to convey the Regional Government's dissatisfaction with the way in which this meeting been conducted and its outcome.
 
"My opinion emerges from the very clear perception that we had reached a deadlock as the perspectives from both parties about the situation of the environmental decontamination of Terceira Island were very different, both in terms of scope and timing," said the president of the Government.
 
"After this meeting, and over the last few months, I have taken a series of steps, nationally and externally, with the goal of further discussing this matter as this is a priority for the Regional Government," Vasco Cordeiro stressed, highlighting a series of other steps that have been taken since then.
 
In this context, the President of the Government pointed the meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, with US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson on July 27 and the meeting between the Minister of National Defence, José Azeredo Lopes, and the Secretary of Defence, James Mattis, on September 12. Moreover, he mentioned the appointment of the new ambassador of the United States of America in Lisbon, George Glass, on August 25 and of the new commander of the 65th Airbase Group, Colonel Peter Feng, on August 16.
 
"It also is interesting to point out that, although some of these efforts were not exclusively about the situation of Lajes Air Base, they had an impact on it," said Vasco Cordeiro. He noted that both meetings of the Permanent Bilateral Commission included the delivery of documents containing several analyses on the two sites whose confirmed contamination is of greater concern.