According to Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho there is “no indication” that the US spying programme included Portugal. Nonetheless, the country will be adding its weight to European protests over eavesdropping by American secret services.
Addressing journalists at the end of a European Council meeting, Coelho confirmed: “I have no indication that Portugal was subject to any kind of actions of this nature.”
Recent news over the US spying on its European allies – including allegations that NSA tapped phone conversations of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as those of members of the French government – has not changed Passos Coelho’s day-to-day routine as prime minister, he told the meeting. He says his “normal conduct” is the same as it was when he was first elected two-and-a-half-years ago.
Coelho also announced that Portugal would be joining the German-French demand for explanations from the US over the elaborate spying programme.
