Prime Minister of Portugal in the context of "Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)"

The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the heads of state or of government of the EU member states, the president of the European Council, and the president of the European Commission. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also takes part in its meetings.

Established as an informal summit in 1975, the European Council was formalised as an institution in 2009 upon the commencement of the Treaty of Lisbon. Its current president is António Costa, former prime minister of Portugal.

António Luís Santos da Costa GCC GCIH (European Portuguese: [ɐ̃ˈtɔni.u ˈkɔʃtɐ, ɐ̃ˈtɔnju -]; born 17 July 1961) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician who has served as President of the European Council since 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 2015 to 2024 and Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 2014 to 2024.

Born in Lisbon, Costa was Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs from 1995 to 1997, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs from 1997 to 1999, Minister of Justice from 1999 to 2002, Minister of Internal Administration from 2005 to 2007, as well as Mayor of Lisbon from 2007 to 2015.

The Portuguese Armed Forces (Portuguese: Forças Armadas) are the military of Portugal. They include the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the other unified bodies and the three service branches: Portuguese Navy, Portuguese Army and Portuguese Air Force.

The President of the Republic is the head of the Portuguese military, with the title of "Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces" (Comandante Supremo das Forças Armadas). The management of the Armed Forces and the execution of the national defense policy is however done by the government (chaired by the Prime Minister) via its Minister of National Defense. The highest-ranking officer in the military is the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, which has operational control of the Armed Forces during peacetime and assumes their full control when a state of war exists.

The Secretary-General of the Socialist Party is the highest position within the portuguese Socialist Party. Currently, the office is held by José Luís Carneiro, after his victory in the July 2025 leadership election.

The post of Secretary-general was created in 1973, after the party's foundation in Bad Münstereifel. Its first holder was Mário Soares, who held several important offices such as Prime Minister from 1976 to 1978 and again from 1983 to 1985, and President of the Republic, from 1986 to 1996.

This is a list of mayors of Lisbon (Portuguese: Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, CML, literally: "President of the Municipal Chamber of Lisbon", and also Portuguese: Presidente do Município de Lisboa, literally: "President of the Municipality of Lisbon"), the capital city of Portugal, and also the most populated.

This office is considered one of the most important in Portugal's politics, even more sought than the office of minister (following António Costa's resignation from a ministerial position to contest the 2007 elections, which he won). Of the nine elected mayors since 1976, two became Prime Minister of Portugal - Pedro Santana Lopes in 2004 and António Costa in 2015; One became President of the Republic - Jorge Sampaio in 1996.

The president of Portugal, officially the president of the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: Presidente da República Portuguesa, pronounced [pɾɨziˈðẽtɨ ðɐ ʁɛˈpuβlikɐ puɾtuˈɣezɐ]), is the head of state and highest office of Portugal.

The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with the prime minister and cabinets have over time differed with the various Portuguese constitutions. Currently, in the Third Republic, a semi-presidential system, the president holds no direct executive power, unlike his counterparts in the United States and France. However, even though he is in general a ceremonial figure, he holds some powers less-commonly found in parliamentary systems: one of his most significant responsibilities is the promulgation of all laws enacted by the Assembly of the Republic (parliament) or the Government (an act without which such laws have no legal validity), with an alternative option to veto them (although this veto can be overcome in the case of laws approved by Parliament) or send them to the Constitutional Court for appreciation of whether they violate the Constitution. This and other abilities imply that the president of Portugal does not fit clearly into either of the three traditional powers – legislative, executive and judicial –, acting instead as a sort of "moderating power" among the traditional three.

The Estado Novo (European Portuguese pronunciation: [(ɨ)ʃˈtaðu ˈnovu], lit. 'New State') was the corporatist Portuguese state installed in 1933. It evolved from the Ditadura Nacional ("National Dictatorship") formed after the coup d'état of 28 May 1926 against the unstable First Republic. Together, the Ditadura Nacional and the Estado Novo are recognised by historians as the Second Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: Segunda República Portuguesa) or Salazarist Portugal. The Estado Novo, greatly inspired by conservative and autocratic ideologies, was developed by António de Oliveira Salazar, who was President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 until illness forced him out of office in 1968.

Opposed to communism, socialism, syndicalism, anarchism, liberalism and anti-colonialism, the regime was conservative, corporatist, and nationalist in nature, defending Portugal's traditional Catholicism. Its policy envisaged the perpetuation of Portugal as a pluricontinental nation under the doctrine of lusotropicalism, with Angola, Mozambique, and other Portuguese territories as extensions of Portugal itself, it being a supposed source of civilisation and stability to the overseas societies in the African and Asian possessions. Under the Estado Novo, Portugal tried to perpetuate a vast, centuries-old empire with a total area of 2,168,071 square kilometres (837,097 sq mi), while other former colonial powers had, by this time, largely acceded to global calls for self-determination and independence of their overseas colonies.

The Socialist Party (Portuguese: Partido Socialista [pɐɾˈtiðu susiɐˈliʃtɐ], PS) is a social democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel by militants who were at the time with the Portuguese Socialist Action (Portuguese: Acção Socialista Portuguesa). The PS is a member of the Socialist International, Progressive Alliance and Party of European Socialists, and has eight members in the European Parliament within the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group during the 10th European Parliament.

The party won the 1976 general election and formed the first constitutional government after the 1974 revolution, with Mário Soares as prime minister. However, the government was unstable and fell in 1978. The PS lost the 1979 election, but returned to power in 1983, forming, with the Social Democratic Party, a Central Bloc coalition. It lasted two years and in 1985, the party was defeated and went back to opposition, remaining there for 10 years and losing the two following general elections. Under António Guterres, the party won the 1995 general election and returned to power, lasting until 2002, upon the resignation of Guterres. The party made a comeback and won a historic absolute majority in the 2005 general election under the leadership of José Sócrates. By 2011, the economic crisis led the party to lose the 2011 snap election and the party returned to the opposition. Despite losing the 2015 election, the party formed an agreement with the Left Bloc and the Unitary Democratic Coalition and managed to appoint António Costa as Prime Minister. Costa remained in office for 9 years, until 2024, and during his term won two elections, the last one, in 2022, with an absolute majority. After Costa's resignation, the party narrowly lost the 2024 election, thus, returning to opposition. The party again lost the 2025 election by a larger margin and even fell to third place in Parliament for first time since it's revolution in 1974.