The investigation into the corruption scandal in green investments is overwhelming the Portuguese government and the prime minister himself. Antonio Costa, had to resign after eight years at the helm of the country. The socialist prime minister’s televised announcement came after a hectic morning in which police carried out raids and searches at government offices, ministries and those closest to him. “I am confident that justice is working and I want to say to the Portuguese, looking them in the eyes, that I do not bear the burden of any illegal act on my conscience,” Costa told the cameras amid rumors since Rumors have been circulating for hours about his possible criminal involvement in the crime. An affair that led to the arrest of several people close to him.
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In fact, those arrested were his chief of staff Vítor Escaria, the mayor of the port city of Sines, Nuno Mascarenhas, and the entrepreneur, advisor and personal friend of the prime minister, Diogo Lacerda Machado. All were arrested on charges of absconding and contaminating evidence. Among those investigating are the Minister of Infrastructure João Galamba, the Minister of the Environment Duarte Cordeiro and the head of the country’s environmental agency. The former owner of the environmental company João Pedro Matos Fernandes, who initiated a large part of the investigation, is also involved in the investigation. The investigation, which led to police carrying out searches in the offices but also in the Prime Minister’s residence, focuses on a series of procedures in the awarding of important contracts for the future of Portugal’s energy transition and autonomy: the lithium mines in the north, in the city of Montalegre, and green hydrogen-related projects in the south, around the important port and industrial complex of Sines. For Costa as Prime Minister, the investigation will be carried out by the Supreme Court and will have to determine how much he knew about what his closest aides are accused of.
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Antonio Costa, the phone calls
An important point of the investigation would be three telephone conversations between Costa and Matos Fernandes, which were intercepted by investigators investigating the then minister and an investment of over one and a half billion in green hydrogen. The Supreme Court had recently approved the use of one of the three telephone conversations. The suspects, who have been in custody since this morning, will be questioned in the next 48 hours, but for Minister Galamba the hypothesis of a crime has already been put forward: active and passive corruption and abuse of office. Now for the Portugal A delicate political side opens up. The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has convened the Council of State next Thursday, when he will address the nation. For Costa, who led minority executives from 2015 to 2022 (the second fell with the approval of the 2022 budget), the current government, which emerged from the absolute majority achieved on January 30, 2022, would have been the easiest.
And instead came the earthquake, preceded by a series of shocks and resignations that the national journalistic jargon had renamed Falls and Casuccì. Just yesterday, Parliament began deliberating the amendments to the draft budget bill, which are due to be finally adopted on November 29th. It will be the last budget of António Costa, who for the time being also sees his well-known aspirations for a position at EU level at risk: the day after tomorrow in Málaga at the socialist meeting for the European elections he would have been a star, one of the possible candidates for the office of President of the European Union Council. Now there are even strong doubts about his presence at the meeting.
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