Portugal on Friday condemned Guinea-Bissau’s decision to expel reporting teams from Portuguese state news agency Lusa and African units of broadcaster RTP, just months before the West African nation’s delayed elections in November.
Lisbon’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned Guinea-Bissau’s ambassador for explanations, calling the move “highly reprehensible and unjustifiable.” Journalists from Lusa, RTP Africa, and RDP Africa were ordered to halt broadcasts and leave by August 19, according to a government decree issued in Bissau earlier in the day.
Neither government offered a reason for the expulsions, which come amid mounting political tensions. President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, a former army general, reversed his earlier pledge to step down and confirmed in March he would run for a second term. His opponents argue his mandate ended in February, fueling disputes that risk destabilizing the former Portuguese colony with a long history of coups.
Embalo has also reshuffled the government, appointing Braima Camara as prime minister this month—the third to hold the post since 2020. ECOWAS, which tried to mediate earlier this year, said it pulled its mission out in March after Embalo threatened to expel it.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are now slated for November 23, though the political climate remains fraught. Portugal’s rebuke underscores growing international concern over democratic backsliding in Guinea-Bissau.