Costa presented his resignation to President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa during their meeting at the Belém Palace, the official residence of the president.

In his statement, the resigning prime minister said that he was not involved in any corruption case, but that he preferred to resign in order to focus on his defense before the Supreme Court of Justice.

Costa was the mayor of Lisbon (2007-2015) and made the leap to the highest political office in the country in 2015. His (Socialist) party has an absolute majority in Parliament.

His resumé includes a brief stint as an MEP between 2004 and 2005 and a rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, which Portugal assumed in the first semester of 2021.

jg/arm/mem/eh