Portugal's Finance Ministry bars journalist Luís Leitão

On 2 July, journalist Luís Leitão of the newspaper ECO was denied entry to the Portuguese Ministry of Finance for an informal meeting he had been formally invited to after publishing a story about a new state savings product. Ministry staff instructed the GNR to escort him away, even though his name appeared on the guest list.

ECO says the incident breaches press‑freedom principles and that the Ministry later gave Parliament a misleading response to questions from the Socialist Party. The newspaper has reiterated its position publicly, demanding an accurate record of the events.