Portugal prime minister resigns amid corruption investigation News
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Portugal prime minister resigns amid corruption investigation

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned Tuesday due to an ongoing inquiry into alleged corruption. Upon announcing his decision, Costa said that the dignity of the tasks of a prime minister is not compatible with any suspicion regarding integrity, good behavior, or criminal activity.

The investigation surrounding Costa is looking into alleged misuses of funds, active and passive corruption by political figures, and influence peddling. The allegations relate to the mining of lithium in Portugal, hydrogen projects, and the building of a data center.

The investigations began in January of this year when prosecutors said that they were looking into alleged corruption relating to lithium and hydrogen projects. At that time, they didn’t name any suspects, but on Tuesday, they carried out 43 raids on government buildings and homes and issued an arrest warrant for Costa’s chief of staff, Vítor Escária. They also said that they would be making infrastructure minister João Galamba a formal suspect. Costa said that he was willing to cooperate with the investigation.

Costa has served as prime minister since November 2015 and won a third consecutive term for Portugal’s Socialist Party in January 2022.

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