|
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of
the Press Secretary (Lisbon, Portugal)
For
Immediate Release |
May 30,
2000 |
Fact Sheet
U.S.-Portugal Bilateral Issues
The United States and Portugal have enjoyed close and friendly
relations for two centuries, and Portugal was the first neutral country to
recognize the United States following the Revolutionary War. Portugal is a
founding member of NATO and remains a staunch supporter of transatlantic ties.
The current bilateral relationship is codified in the 1995 "Agreement on
Cooperation and Defense." This agreement provides for access to Lajes Air Base
in the Azores and lays out areas for bilateral cooperation, including the
provision of excess defense articles to the Portuguese military, and
cooperation in the fields of science and technology. The Portuguese government
has decided to extend the agreement to the end of 2001. U.S. foreign direct
investment in Portugal was $224 million in 1998, nearly a quarter of all such
investment.
The United States and Portugal have cooperated in a number
of international military, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, including
in East Timor. Portugal participated with its NATO allies in the Kosovo
campaign, and continues to participate in peacekeeping efforts in the Balkans.
Portugal and the United States led the international humanitarian response to
the devastating floods in Mozambique and the Portuguese have conducted
evacuations of citizens alongside American forces in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and
Congo Kinshasa.
Science and Technology Cooperation The
science and technology cooperation between the United States and Portugal
includes extensive research collaboration in infectious diseases, ocean and
atmospheric sciences, and archeology, as well as cooperative work to help train
the next generation of scientists.
- Under a new cooperative project, health experts in the
United States and Portugal will work together to combat malaria in Sao Tome and
Principe. Leading scientists and public health officials from the three
nations will work together to reduce Sao Tome and Principe's malaria infection
level; train a core of health workers; create a malaria public awareness
campaign; and launch a long-term control strategy. The project will build on
the ongoing efforts of a team of researchers from the Portuguese Center for
Malaria and Other Tropical Diseases.
- U.S. and Portuguese researchers also collaborate on other
infectious diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. The U.S.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a number of Portuguese institutions are
supporting a cooperative effort to develop state-of-the-art AIDS treatments,
with potential benefit for all nations. Other NIH-supported collaborative teams
are studying the immunology of tuberculosis, new drug-resistant disease
threats, and an unusual pathogen that could strike down those already suffering
from AIDS.
- The U.S. and Portugal are working together and with other
European partners to train the next generation of scientists to tackle global
challenges, like health and the environment. Through the environmental
science and education program, Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the
Environment (GLOBE), students take environmental measurements, such as
rainfall, cloud cover, temperature, and soil moisture, and share their findings
with students and scientists all over the world via the internet. In today's
demonstration with President Clinton and Prim Minister Guterres, Portuguese
students will have a live internet discussion on the environment with two
schools in California. Portugal became a GLOBE partner in 1996 and now has six
participating schools. Worldwide, GLOBE involves students and teachers from
8,500 schools in more than 85 countries.
Open Skies Agreement Portugal and the
United States today signed an Open Skies agreement that will open the way for
increased business and tourist travel at lower cost between the two countries.
The United States has signed similar agreements with 46 other countries with
the most significant commercial impact of these agreements being in Europe.
Alliances between U.S. and European airlines, which the Open Skies agreements
have made possible, have been responsible for a boom in traffic, lower prices,
and greater choices for consumers. Portugal will be the tenth European Union
member to sign an Open Skies Agreement with the United States.
The Open
Skies Agreement with Portugal will open the way for increased business and
tourist travel at lower cost between Portugal and the United States by removing
restrictions on flight frequency, destinations, seat capacity and pricing. The
Agreement will also provide travelers more flight choices and simpler, lower
cost ticketing by permitting code sharing and other cooperation between
airlines. New flight routes to and from the United States under consideration
by U.S. carriers include Lisbon via Madrid and Lisbon via Amsterdam.
Child Support Agreement The United States and Portugal
today signed a bilateral maintenance payment agreement that will help Americans
recover alimony and child support owed to them by ex-spouses who are in
Portugal. Conversely Portuguese parents will be able to file for support owed
to them by ex-spouses living in the United States. Portugal is the first
country in Europe to have a bilateral agreement on maintenance with the United
States. Under the agreement, a parent in the United States can file an
application to recover delinquent maintenance payments from a former spouse
resident in Portugal. Applications are filed through the U.S. Central Authority
at the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS forwards the application to
the Portuguese Central Authority to locate the parent and recover support
payments.
U.S.-Portugal Agreement on Deportations The
United States and Portugal have agreed to a protocol to smooth removal
procedures for deportees from both countries. Since the implementation of the
United States' 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility
Act, the Portuguese government had raised concerns about the arrival and
resettlement of increasing numbers of deportees of Portuguese citizens who had
committed crimes in the United States. Many of the deportees were born in the
Azores and after being deported from the United States chose to return to the
Azores rather than to "mainland" Portugal. The transfer of several hundred
deportees from the United States over the last few years to the small, isolated
islands, where violent crime is almost non-existent, has met with some
objections from Azores' residents. The protocol agreed to today includes more
timely notification by U.S. authorities on the deportation of Portuguese
citizens who have committed crimes in the United States. |
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