US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Portugal on Thursday for the final stop of his tour of three NATO allies, Euronews reports.

Rubio met with Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro in Lisbon, but neither of them spoke to reporters.

During a speech in Athens on Wednesday, Rubio urged European countries to preserve Western civilisation by upholding the values and traditions of ancient Greece.

“Portugal is a great ally, very cooperative ally of the United States and a country with which we already have a solid and growing relationship. And we visit these countries in order to reinforce those ties,” Rubio said. “That’s the purpose of the trip.”

US-Portugal cooperation highlighted

Portugal has allowed the US to use its Lajes Field air base in the Azores for operations linked to the Iran war.

Following a formal complaint by the Portuguese left-wing party, Left Bloc, Portugal’s attorney general’s office said on Saturday that it was examining whether the use of Lajes Field air base was lawful.

Portugal’s Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said the country’s approval for US military operations did not cover actions violating international law.

Rubio praises defence investment

Rubio praised Portugal’s investment in defence, stressing that defence spending “is not a hostile act” and that NATO members must “be strong” and “have capabilities,” Euronews reports.

“NATO exists, more than anything else, as a defensive alliance that acts as a deterrent against hostility, and it has served us well for decades. If we want it to continue to serve us, we must ensure that it remains strong,” Rubio said.

He described Portugal as “the ideal gateway, from a geographical and economic point of view” for US technology companies seeking access to Europe.

Rubio also mentioned that US investors put more than 20 billion US dollars, approximately 17.2 billion euros, into Portugal last year, while Portuguese companies invested over 2 billion US dollars, approximately 1.72 billion euros, in the United States.

Portugal’s efforts to combat drug trafficking were also praised, with Rubio highlighting that Portuguese authorities, in collaboration with US agencies, have seized 200 tonnes of cocaine in recent years.

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