António Costa resigned as Prime Minister on November 7 last year, after it was made public that he was the target of a judicial inquiry as part of Operation Influencer when he headed a PS Government with an absolute majority in parliament. On June 27th, he was chosen for the position of president of the European Council, which he will assume on December 1st.

Asked whether the country is better today than it was a year ago, following the dismissal, which led him to dissolve parliament and call early legislative elections, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa began by responding that as head of state, "he takes decisions when he has to take them, and does not analyse".

"Now, we can say, looking at the present, that Europe has gained a good president of the European Council, which was apparently not conceivable on November 6, 2023, that seemed very far away, and it happened", he added, in response to questions from journalists.

In the opinion of the head of state, "the economy has been doing well" and "it held up well because there was a Budget, in particular, approved beforehand".

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa highlighted that "financial rating agencies continue to give Portugal very high ratings".

"So, I would say that, at this moment, we have in Europe someone who is very competent for Europe and also good for Portugal, we have in Portugal what the people decided to choose, but with a transition that was calm, serene, peaceful, and there is no economic and financial problems that some would imagine it could have had", he summarised.