A wide-ranging investigation into corruption brought down the government of the former Portuguese prime minister, who is now running for the presidency of the European Council.
Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa could be named next president of the European Councilwhich would allow him to regain his political credibility after being involved in a corruption investigation that paralyzed his mandate.
After long conversations in Brussels On Monday, EU diplomats claimed that Costa is part of a trio of candidates emerging for three positions of power in Brussels, although the appointments remain vulnerable to political tug-of-war.
His status as a ‘witness’ (witness) in a judicial investigation into corruption and influence peddling It was not initially an obstacle. Last November, Costa abruptly resigned as Portuguese prime minister following revelations that his aides had enabled irregular investment deals in lithium and green hydrogen projects, for which Costa was initially investigated.
The veteran minister, 62, has systematically and fiercely defended his innocence and claims that he left the Government to preserve your political integrity. It was learned that prosecutors had mistakenly confused Costa’s name with that of the former Minister of Economy, António Costa Silva, in the transcripts of the wiretapping, which He called into question the credibility of the judicial case.
Early elections were held in March, in which the center-right oppositionwon by a narrow margin and the extreme right burst into Portuguese politics for the first time. Since then, a center-right minority government led by Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has taken office.
Now, a appointment for one of the highest positions in the UE could help Costa reaffirm your credentials as one of the most trusted and respected politicians in the bloc. Costa’s political family, a socialist, claims the presidency of the European Council for the next five years, and he has emerged as their main candidate.
Without a doubt, one of the biggest drives for Costa is the unconditional support of the newly inaugurated prime minister Montenegro, until now his political rival. Montenegro has described Costa as the best candidate for the position and has promised to do everything in his power to support his candidacy, an endorsement considered essential to give credibility to Costa’s claim to the presidency of the Advice.
The Portuguese prime minister says he has “more confidence” in Costa than he would have in a socialist of another nationality, and has praised his solid record of promoting european integrationsupport to Ukraine and support to the process of expansion of the EU.
Costa is also highly appreciated by the head of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyenalthough his relationship with the current Council President, Charles Michel, is frosty at best, and he has been a constructive partner in the European Council for almost a decade.
According to political analyst Ricardo Borges de Carvalho, Costa is a skilled negotiator capable of “bringing together” the positions of all leaders of all political colors and “reaching where others would perhaps have more difficulties.” Ultimately, it is the “dialogue capacity” of Costa as a “good negotiator” which will give him the advantage, Borges de Carvalho also told ‘Euronews’.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob, a liberal, said Monday that he had received “clarifications” from the new Portuguese government that Costa’s name It would soon be completely clean.. “I just support him because he has a lot of experiencea lot of wisdom,” Golob told reporters.
Two other sources familiar with the negotiations said he did not speak no major opposition during negotiations regarding Costa, and that his nomination would likely be confirmed.
The right expresses its concerns and torpedoes the talks
But another source told ‘Euronews’ that some leaders had expressed their worry that Costa did not share the majority of EU leaders’ views on the need to step up the bloc’s efforts to tackle the rise in migratory flows towards Europe.
One of the first major political changes of Montenegro’s new center-right administration has been to tighten Portugal immigration ruleswhich under Costa had allowed non-EU citizens to migrate to Portugal without a work contract.
Costa therefore has a reputation for spearheading some of the immigration policies of “open doors” most liberal of the blocka warning signal for the hardest right-wing governments represented in the European Council, such as the Italian Government of Giorgia Meloni.
Meloni’s government partner, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajaniof the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), told reporters after a meeting of his political family in Brussels that I was not convinced of Costa’s candidacy because he had not adopted a firm line on the war in ukraine.
He PPE He also decided to torpedo the Council presidency talks on Monday by trying to reach a difficult agreement: split the next two terms two and a half years of the presidency of the Council between a socialist and a own candidate.
The measure, which caught the socialists off guard, is very risky for the EPP, which needs the support of socialist and liberal legislators to bring its main candidate, Ursula von der Leyen, to the position of president of the Commission. The Socialists could play this negotiating card to force the EPP to abandon its claim to have a stake in the Council presidency.
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While Costa’s progressive views and record of strong social policies have the potential to irritate some of the bloc’s more right-wing leaders, his warm and personal relationship with some of these leaders could be essential to ensure broad support.
Last summer, Costa provoked indignation at home after modifying his diplomatic schedule to fly on an Air Force plane to Hungary to sit next to Orbán at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest for the ‘Europa League’ final between Seville and Rome.
One of the biggest challenges of the next President of the Council will be to achieve unanimous support for key EU decisions, since Orbán He is the EU leader most likely to use his veto to thwart them.
And with Hungary holding the next semi-annual rotating presidency of the EU Council until the end of this year, if elected, Costa’s ability to build bridges with the black sheep of the European Council could prove crucial.
Speaking to the press after the leaders discussed senior positions, Orbán stated that “the agreement was made” about the three names proposed for senior positions in Brussels, but questioned the exclusion of the most ultra-conservative leaders of the appointments.
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