The Portugal Ministry of Internal Affairs is facing mounting pressure over contradictory accounts of a high-level resignation tied to the country's troubled emergency communications network, after leaked emails revealed that governance disputes over SIRESP — the national system linking police, firefighters, and civil protection — were at the heart of a senior official's exit weeks before the government claimed.
António Pombeiro, the now-former deputy secretary-general of the Portugal Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI), tendered his first resignation on April 28, citing objections to what he described as an attempt to shift control of SIRESP toward military oversight. Those concerns, documented in email exchanges obtained by CNN Portugal and Correio da Manhã, centered on Paulo Viegas Nunes, a major-general who had led SIRESP between 2022 and 2024 and was reappointed to the role on May 22.
The government had previously stated that Pombeiro's April resignation was unrelated to Viegas Nunes's appointment and involved "different reasons." The emails suggest otherwise.
Why This Matters
• Transparency gap: The MAI initially downplayed the link between Pombeiro's departure and governance concerns over SIRESP, a network critical to emergency response.
• Parliamentary scrutiny: Both the Chega and Liberal Initiative parties have demanded urgent hearings with Interior Minister Luís Neves.
• Financial irregularities: A separate contract controversy involves a €12,000 deal for 5 days of work tied to a former technical director's family-run company.
• Investment stakes: The government plans to spend €37 M through 2027 upgrading SIRESP, making leadership stability essential.
The Email Trail That Contradicts Official Narrative
On April 24, Valentina Marcelino, an aide to Interior Minister Luís Neves, sent Pombeiro a request for revisions to a working group report on SIRESP reinforcement. The message also sought clarification on plans to migrate central switches to Army facilities and integrate SIRESP with military communications systems.
Pombeiro responded four days later with a pointed refusal. He objected to being "treated like an editorial intern" and suggested the technical questions had been "commissioned" by Viegas Nunes, whose expertise he questioned. The deputy secretary-general warned that the proposed changes indicated "an attempt to concentrate SIRESP network management in the military sphere, specifically within the Signal Corps," creating dependency on the Portugal Defense Ministry without delivering operational value.
He further noted that Viegas Nunes had left the SIRESP presidency in March 2024 to return to the Army for promotion to major-general, and that the previous government under António Costa had declined to appoint Viegas Nunes's preferred successor. That same email — the first resignation letter — also referenced Carlos Leitão, SIRESP's former technical director, and alleged conflicts of interest involving the consulting firm Euritex.
The MAI issued a statement on May 25 insisting Pombeiro had resigned on April 28 "before the selection of Major-General Viegas Nunes was known" and for reasons "different from those now at issue." The emails contradict that timeline and substance.
The €12,000 Contract and Family Ties
A separate controversy involves Carlos Leitão, who served as SIRESP's technical director until late November 2024. According to documents reviewed by Correio da Manhã, Leitão attempted to award a €12,000 contract for ISO 27001 certification work to a company owned by his wife, Ana Leitão. The contract covered just 5 days of work in December 2024 — the 2nd, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 13th.
Nikeba Fernandes, the financial board member of SIRESP since June 2023, blocked the deal. In an internal email, she called the pricing "extremely elevated" and flagged the family connection as a potential conflict of interest under Portugal's Anti-Corruption Council guidelines. The proposal also listed Carlos Leitão himself as a consultant, allowing him to continue earning income from SIRESP through his wife's firm after his formal departure.
A separate audit by the Portugal Finance General Inspectorate (IGF) identified irregularities in SIRESP's administration during Viegas Nunes's 2022–2024 tenure, including €7,179 in excess payments to board members due to the failure to apply a mandatory 5% salary cut. A portion has since been refunded. The audit also questioned the legal basis for hiring Euritex, which received over €94,000 in direct-award consulting contracts, allegedly through an unsolicited application that may have violated public procurement rules.
Government Defends Appointment, Cites Corrective Action
Interior Minister Luís Neves issued a statement expressing surprise at Pombeiro's allegations, emphasizing that the IGF audit found no illegalities and that all "procedural nonconformities" had been "fully corrected." The ministry reaffirmed "absolute confidence" in Viegas Nunes to lead SIRESP through its next phase.
Pombeiro had coordinated a 33-recommendation working group tasked with finding an alternative to SIRESP. That team proposed creating a sovereign hybrid communications system blending the robustness of the existing Tetra network with next-generation 4G/5G broadband, managed by a new independent public entity. The transition was projected to take more than 10 years, with full Tetra decommissioning not expected before 2038.
Neves rejected the proposal to create a new entity, stating it was "not on the table" and that a "completely different system" was not feasible. Instead, the government announced a €37 M investment to modernize SIRESP by the end of 2027, funded by national resources and the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) following damage from Storm Kristin in early 2026.
What This Means for Residents
For anyone relying on emergency services in Portugal — whether as a resident, business owner, or visitor — the integrity of SIRESP is a daily, invisible dependency. Firefighters battling wildfires, police coordinating operations, and civil protection agencies responding to floods all depend on the network's availability.
The leadership dispute and procurement irregularities raise questions about governance stability at a moment when the system requires substantial capital investment and technical modernization. While the government insists oversight mechanisms have functioned and corrections have been made, the contradictions in public statements and the resignation of a senior official who had direct insight into the network's vulnerabilities suggest ongoing friction over accountability and strategic direction.
Parliamentary hearings with Minister Neves, now demanded by opposition parties, will likely focus on whether the April resignation was misrepresented to the public and whether the IGF audit adequately addressed the concerns Pombeiro raised about military influence, procurement practices, and conflicts of interest.
Investment Roadmap Through 2027
The 2026–2027 Investment Program prioritizes three phases: expanding emergency communications access to all municipalities and parish councils, enhancing energy resilience, and structural reinforcement. Specific measures include:
• €8.7 M for energy autonomy: Installation of uninterruptible power supplies, generators, and solar panels to ensure more than 24 hours of backup power during grid failures.
• Satellite communications expansion: Establishment of a National Sovereign Satellite Hub to centralize emergency satellite links and provide redundancy in critical scenarios.
• Infrastructure repair: Replacement of base station technical rooms damaged by Storm Kristin with modular containers for rapid restoration.
• Parish-level rollout: Distribution of SIRESP phones to all juntas de freguesia, extending the network's reach to local governance.
The broader Portugal Transformation, Recovery and Resilience Plan (PTRR), a 9-year initiative running through 2034 with €22.6 B in funding, includes further SIRESP modernization, improved territorial coverage, and integration with other civil protection systems.
Minister Neves has stated the upgraded network will be "fully operational within 10 years," though the working group's recommendations suggested a hybrid Tetra-5G model would remain necessary well into the 2030s.
Political Pressure Mounts
Both Chega and the Liberal Initiative have called for urgent parliamentary hearings. The Livre party has requested access to the full IGF audit report, arguing that partial disclosures leave key questions unanswered.
The controversy underscores a tension common in public infrastructure management: balancing operational continuity with accountability when leadership changes occur against a backdrop of past irregularities. Whether the government's defense — that issues were identified, corrected, and closed — will satisfy lawmakers and the public remains to be seen.
For now, the network continues to function, the investment is moving forward, and the new-old president is in place. But the emails, the blocked contract, and the resignation ensure that SIRESP's governance will remain under scrutiny as the modernization unfolds.
