Rubio visits Portugal, praising a 'great ally' and looking to build deeper ties

LISBON, Portugal -- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Portugal on the last leg of a three-nation tour of NATO allies.Rubio arrived in Lisbon on Thursday for a brief stop on his return to Washington, a day after delivering a speech in the Greek capital of Athens urging European countries to save Western civilization by upholding the values and traditions of ancient Greece.Rubio, who began his trip in Iceland, is expected to thank Portuguese officials for supporting U.S. operations in the Iran war by allowing the U.S. to use the Lajes Field air base in Portugal’s mid-Atlantic Azores islands, which is strategically located for military refueling flights.The U.S. Air Force has long had a base there under an agreement with Portugal. Unlike neighboring Spain, where Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez refused to allow the American military to use Spanish bases to stage operations for attacks on Iran, Portugal’s center-right government granted Washington “conditional approval” to use Lajes Field.“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 reinforc...