Brussels, July 15, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal's Socialist Party delegation to the European Parliament has questioned the European Union’s (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, regarding the pre-trial detention of the Guinea-Bissau leader Domingos Simões Pereira, calling for European measures to address the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau.
In a question signed by the entire Portuguese Socialist delegation in the European Parliament and tabled by MEP Francisco Assis, the Socialists state that Domingos Simões Pereira, the winner of the 2023 elections in Guinea-Bissau, has been re-arrested “on the basis of fabricated charges” relating to an alleged attempted coup d’état.
In the letter sent to the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the MEPs consider that the situation stems from a “democratic breakdown” in the country and accuse former President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of having resorted to the military junta currently in power to “circumvent the popular vote” and prevent the election results from being published.
In the question addressed to Kaja Kallas, the Socialist Party (PS) delegation points out that a European Parliament resolution adopted in December 2025 called for the “immediate review of bilateral agreements”, the “release of opposition figures” and the imposition of “targeted sanctions against those responsible for the democratic breakdown”.
The MEPs ask what measures the European Union has taken to implement these recommendations and what further action it intends to take “as an urgent matter” to promote a return to constitutional order and ensure the release of Domingos Simões Pereira and the other political prisoners.
The question comes at a time when the Guinea-Bissau authorities are preparing to hold, on 30 August, a referendum on a new constitution and a new electoral law – documents which the European Socialists say were drafted by the authorities who took power following the political crisis.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Francisco Assis stated that the Socialist Group in the European Parliament is “very concerned about the situation in Guinea-Bissau, linked to drug trafficking and even terrorism, which have significant local and regional implications”.
It is necessary to “press the EU to take decisions”, at a time when calls are being made for targeted sanctions against those responsible for the crisis, including travel restrictions and asset freezes, as well as a possible review of the mechanisms for cooperation with the Guinea-Bissau authorities.
“I believe that if we step up parliamentary and political pressure, the EU will realise the need to take more drastic measures,” he said.
Francisco Assis issued “a strong appeal to the EU, as well as to the United Nations, which has also remained silent on this matter”.
He also advocated the possibility of “suspending cooperation” and stated that it is necessary “not to abandon this issue any longer”, to monitor the situation closely and “to speak with the Guinea-Bissau people in support of the redemocratisation of the nation and the release of Domingos Pereira”.
Francisco Assis is today receiving the former minister for justice of Guinea-Bissau, Ruth Monteiro, as well as a member of Guinean civil society, Braima Mané, in Brussels.
Domingos Simões Pereira has been detained since Friday in the cells of the Second Public Order Police (POP) Station in Bissau, following a period under house arrest.
He was initially arrested following the military coup on 26 November and, after two months in prison, returned home under an identity and residence order, but was prevented from moving about.
In June, a court order was made public in which he was deemed a suspect in an alleged attempted coup d’état approximately one month before the general election on 23 November.
Pereira’s defence team has contested the case, describing it as political persecution.
The party and Pereira supported the candidate Fernando Dias da Costa, who claimed victory in the first round over the President and re-election candidate Sissoco Embaló.
Before the official results were announced, the military seized power, deposed Embaló and arrested Simões Pereira.
The opposition describes the military coup as an alleged charade orchestrated by the country's former president, whom it accuses of continuing to pull the strings in Guinea-Bissau.
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