Portuguese prime minister resigns after police search his residence in corruption probe

Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa has resigned after police raided his official residence as part of a corruption investigation into controversial mining schemes.

Police searched Costa’s official residence and detained his chief of staff, Vítor Escária, Portugal’s attorney general said on Tuesday.

Costa has been prime minister since 2015 and is one of the longest serving socialist leaders in Europe.

The Portuguese Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that Costa is being investigated as part of a probe linked to lithium exploration schemes and a green hydrogen mega-project in Sines.

Costa’s government has backed numerous schemes to extract lithium in different areas of Portugal as part of the EU’s wider drive to secure critical raw materials, but those projects have been mired in controversy.

Police searches of the prime minister's residence and the ministries of environment and infrastructure are ongoing. In addition to Escária, Costa's personal adviser Diogo Lacerda — one of the prime minister's closest confidants — and Nuno Mascarenhas, the socialist mayor of Sines, have also been detained.