“If and when the courts want to talk to me, they know where I am and what my phone number is.” This is how outgoing Prime Minister António Costa introduced himself to the Ministry of Justice this Friday, but with the answer to the Attorney General of the Republic: “I do not communicate with the Ministry of Justice through the media.” The announcement comes a day after Lucilia Gago admitted that the trial against Costa, as part of Operation Influential Man, would move from the Supreme Court to the Central Investigation and Criminal Directorate. However, the Union of Prosecutors has already said that the PGR “does not have the power to change” the situation, the union leader told the weekly Expresso, saying it was a “matter of stability.”
The legal question hung over António Costa’s last day at the European Council, where he said goodbye “without regret” but “with pride” after eight years. He recalled “skepticism about the possibility that we will be able to comply with European rules”, emphasized the priority of “turning the page on austerity” and expressed satisfaction that Portugal was “away from the podium of the three most indebted countries”.