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The Portugal Brief
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The Portugal Brief

The Portugal Brief

Defence

PSD and CDS-PP Pitch a 'Defender Portugal' Civic-Military Programme to Hand 18-23-Year-Olds €439.21 and a Free Driving Licence — A 3-to-6 Week Internato Aimed at the Forças Armadas' 24,500-Active-Personnel Recruitment Crisis

AD's parliamentary resolution would create a voluntary three-to-six-week 'Defender Portugal' programme for 18-23-year-olds — €439.21 stipend (50% of basic-instruction first-tier pay), free driving licence in military establishments. Aimed at Portugal's 24,500-active-personnel recruitment crisis.

Courts

Ministério Público Charges Lar do Comércio in Matosinhos for the COVID-19 Deaths of 18 Residents — Six Years On, the Pandemic-Era Care-Home Accountability File Finally Reaches the Penal Code

Ministério Público charges Lar do Comércio in Matosinhos and its former leadership with propagation of contagious disease aggravated by the result — 18 deaths and 3 serious-injury counts from the April–May 2020 COVID outbreak that infected 109 of the lar's residents. Indictment filed 31 March 2026.

Citizenship

President Seguro Signs the New Nationality Law Into Force — Naturalisation for Non-EU Residents Doubles to 10 Years, CPLP and EU Citizens Move to 7, and Birth-Right Citizenship Tightens to a Five-Year Parental Residency Test

President Seguro signed the new Lei da Nacionalidade on 3 May 2026, doubling naturalisation residency to 10 years for non-EU/CPLP applicants, raising it to 7 years for EU and CPLP citizens, and tightening birth-right citizenship to a 5-year parental residency test.