Political crisis in Portugal, Antonio Costa’s chief of staff arrested

Investigations are underway in the prime minister’s inner circle

Rapid developments in Portugal after the arrest of the prime minister’s chief of staff. Investigations are underway in Antonio Costa’s prime ministerial circle. Several current and former ministers are under the microscope of the authorities.

Portuguese police “invaded” Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s office as part of a corruption investigation, Portugal’s attorney general announced Tuesday. Police investigations at the prime minister’s office and the ministries of environment and infrastructure are continuing.

Police in Lisbon this morning arrested two people close to the Prime Minister, Socialist Antonio Costa, for alleged irregularities in the licensing of lithium deposits and green hydrogen projects. The Prime Minister’s own communications office confirmed the arrest of Chief of Staff Vitor Eskaria.

Vitor Escaria is the head of Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s office. Also arrested was businessman Diogo Lacerda Machado, a friend of the prime minister who has undertaken strategic missions in the past, such as the nationalization of TAP airline.

Also, the residences of current and former Portuguese government ministers are being searched for suspected irregularities in the commissioning of lithium and hydrogen research.

Among the people being investigated are the Minister of Infrastructure João Galamba, the former Minister of Environment-Energy Transition João Pedro Matos Fernandes, Duarte Cordeiro, the current Minister of Environment-Energy Transition, the mayor of Sines.

This morning, the Prime Minister canceled the program and met with Portuguese President Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo d’Sozhaya to discuss developments.

With information from El Pais and Portugal Resident