The Jewish community in Porto, Portugal raised the alarm over the pending appointment of António Costa, the former Portuguese prime minister, as president of the European Council. He will assume the post in December.
In a book published by the community, they claimed Costa adopted Soviet-like methods and antisemitism in his attacks on the city's Jews and detailed his actions and those of members of his government. The book titled "The Plan" is now available at no cost, on Amazon.
According to the book, Costa's foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva worked extensively to revoke a law passed in 2015 that enabled Jews of Spanish and Portuguese descent, whose ancestors had been expelled during the Inquisition, to obtain citizenship. It claimed Costa and members of his government worked openly and behind the scenes to revoke the law and conducted a false investigation into the Jewish community alleging misconduct.
His justice minister had sent anonymous accusations to the general prosecutor in Lisbon who then conducted a "scandalous search, of the Porto synagogue, homes of community leaders and a humiliating raid of institutions. The accusations were found to be baseless.
The community claimed these actions critically damaged the reputation of members of the Jewish community, promoted hate against it and led to threats of violence including bomb threats and protests against Jewish homeowners and investors in Porto real estate.
Costa escaped prosecution in an ongoing corruption investigation against his government after his justice minister cleared him of suspicion, the same minister who led to the investigation of Porto's Jewish community.
The community now numbers 1,000 people from over 30 countries who settled in Portugal's second-largest city. "We think it is important to bring to the public awareness the story of those who are soon to assume significant positions in the European Union," Gabriel Sandrovich, president of the Jewish community in Porto said.