The socialist leading candidate, Marta Temido, began her campaign day in Aljustrel by pointing out her adversaries, stating that the opposition "doesn't need help" to be detonated. However, she guaranteed that she did not want to feed pettiness with the other parties because she was more interested in talking about Europe and its political projects.

Sebastião Bugalho, candidate for the Democratic Alliance (AD), criticized the socialists from various European countries, which included the Portuguese PS Government that, he says, "left 1.7 million Portuguese people without a family doctor".

The provocations between the parties also extended to the smaller ones, such as the Liberal Initiative and the Left Bloc. The two parties have exchanged accusations, but this afternoon, João Cotrim Figueiredo, the liberals' leading candidate, wanted to put "an end" to the pettiness of the last few days because he believes that it distracts from his party's proposals.

Since the beginning of the campaign, the two parties have been exchanging arguments, with the IL considering that party "eurosceptic" and the BE accusing the liberals of lying about the bloc's position on the conflict in Ukraine.

The CDU pointed in the direction of the liberals, accusing them of defending "a strange form" of freedom in terms of migration policies. The communists also criticized the "rosemary and marjoram wars" between the PS and AD, accusing them of contributing to an increase in abstention.

The parties also turned to internal politics and took the opportunity to react to the President of the Republic's warning about the importance of ensuring the viability of the next State Budget in order to maintain the balance of public accounts.

The AD said it shared Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa's concerns about political stability, with Sebastião Bugalho stressing that this "has been a constant concern since the beginning of his term".

The IL, through its leader, Rui Rocha, who accompanied the entourage, guaranteed that they would not give in to pressure from the President of the Republic, despite "always valuing" his words, and the PAN, through Inês Sousa Real, who went to Maia with the candidate Pedro Fidalgo Marques, considered that "the country cannot be at the mercy of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa's whims" in terms of the budget.

Today it was also learned that the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, will be in Portugal, in Porto, for an AD campaign event on June 6th.

The name of the President of the European Commission, and also a candidate for the European People's Party for a second term, was present in Chega's campaign, with the leading candidate, António Tânger Correia, refusing today to support the Belgian's candidacy for another four years at the head of the European executive, criticizing her connection to "cases of corruption".

And, through the IL, Cotrim de Figueiredo doubted that Von der Leyen's presence in the AD campaign would be "an electoral asset".

The Left Bloc today had the presence of the historian and founder of the party Fernando Rosas who guided the leading candidate, Catarina Martins, on a visit to the Fort of Peniche, where he was imprisoned in the early 1970s.

The leading candidate for Livre, Francisco Paupério, was in Coimbra and spoke for the first time about Rui Tavares to assure that, despite his absence throughout the campaign, he does not feel abandoned and that it will be possible to witness the union of the two next Saturday.

Around 373 million European voters are called to vote for the European Parliament between June 6th and 9th. In Portugal, the vote is on the 9th.

720 MEPs will be elected, 21 of whom are Portuguese.

A total of 17 parties and coalitions are competing in the elections in Portugal: AD, PS, Chega, IL, BE, CDU, Livre, PAN, ADN, MAS, Ergue-te, Nova Direita, Volt Portugal, RIR, Nós Cidadãos, MPT and PTP.

Read Also: UP TO THE MINUTE: AD runs "fearless campaign"; "Pettiness distracts", argues IL (Portuguese version)