Portugal's parliament could reject Turkey refugee aid, Greek loans - PM

[Ian Smith son]

Portugal's divided parliament may refuse to approve Lisbon's contribution to new bailout loans for Greece and a European Union aid package to help Turkey deal with the migrant crisis, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Saturday.

Costa told journalists the two far-left parties that back his minority Socialist government - the Left Bloc and the Communists - had long opposed the payments and could vote against them.

The main opposition Social Democrats had also said they would reject the aid, Costa said, a stance he called an "irresponsible" change in their past support for the package.

The EU agreed to a 3-billion-euro ($3.35 billion) aid package for Turkey in November, made up partly of money from the EU budget and partly of contributions from member states.

If one country were unable to contribute, the package would not necessarily collapse, but there would be less money in it unless another EU state picked up the slack.

The money for the Greek bailout comes from the European Stability Mechanism, which borrows it on the markets with small national contributions to the fund's capital.

Portugal's parliament could reject Turkey refugee aid, Greek loans - PM | Reuters