CENTRE-LEFT PARTIES in Europe have had a rough time in recent years, but Portugal has been an exception. António Costa, the Socialist prime minister, has been in power since 2015, first leading a coalition including parties from the far left and later a minority government. Portugal’s economy, among the best-performing in Europe, is expected to finish this year with a reasonably solid 2% growth. In an election in 2022, Mr Costa defied expectations by winning an absolute majority for his party in parliament.
Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa arrives prior to the start of a European Council meeting at the European headquarters in Brussels, on February 1, 2024. EU leaders are to gather in Brussels on February 1, 2024, for a meeting of the European Council, where they will discuss aid to Ukraine as the war nears its second anniversary. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)(AFP)
But on November 7th his good fortune came to an abrupt end. He resigned following a police raid on his residence, part of an investigation into corruption scandals over lithium mines and a green-hydrogen project. Mr Costa’s chief of staff and a close adviser were detained, as was the Socialist mayor of Sines, a port city south of Lisbon, and two executives from a data-centre company. Prosecutors announced that the minister of environment and climate and the minister of infrastructure had been named as defendants, and that Mr Costa, too, is under investigation. The prime minister denied having done anything illegal, and said he had “a clear conscience”.
The corruption probe is looking into government awards of contracts for two big lithium-mining projects, as Portugal tries to win a place for itself in Europe’s growing battery-manufacturing production chain. The country claims to have western Europe’s largest reserves of lithium ore, and in May its environmental regulator granted approval for a huge open-pit mine in the region of Barroso. Another mine, in the region of Montalegre near the Spanish border, was given the go-ahead in September. Both have faced protests from locals over their environmental effects.
