LISBON, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced on Thursday that his country will enter a "state of calamity" as of May 3 after the "state of emergency" ends on May 2.
"The Council of Ministers today approved the transition from the state of emergency to the state of calamity," Costa told the press.
"There is no reason to renew the state of emergency, but that does not mean that the risk has been overcome. We have to maintain a high level of security," he said.
"The government understood that it was time to go down a step, moving to a state of calamity," Costa said.
The 15-day state of emergency, which was first declared on March 18 and renewed twice on April 2 and April 16, will end at 23:59 local time on May 2.
Under the Portuguese Constitution, a state of emergency, which is the highest of three emergency levels, should be proposed by the president with a favorable opinion from the government and approved by the Parliament under exceptional circumstances.
The other two levels are "state of calamity" and "state of alert," which are under the authority of the government in accordance with the Basic Law on Civil Protection. Enditem
