Chega members enter Coimbra student radio studio, police called to end live debate
Chega members led by deputies Rita Matias and Madalena Cordeiro entered the Associação Académica de Coimbra building on the morning of Monday, 12 October 2026, and interrupted a live debate on Rádio Universidade de Coimbra. Three PSP officers arrived, and the party members left after about an hour.
Entry into the student association
On the morning of Monday, 12 October 2026, a group of militants and supporters of the Chega party entered the headquarters of the Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC), according to a statement from the student association. The AAC said the group, led by deputies Rita Matias and Madalena Cordeiro, went at about 09:30 to the studios of Rádio Universidade de Coimbra (RUC) with the sole purpose of interrupting a live broadcast. The association said the building is reserved for its members and called the entry and the interruption of the radio programme a clear lack of respect for its sovereignty. According to the statement, the situation lasted about an hour, with moments of great tension, while the group stayed inside against the will of the institution. The AAC said the group entered the RUC studios and the offices of the Direção-Geral, and it repudiated the conduct.
A debate interrupted on air
The RUC studio sits inside the AAC building, and on Monday morning it was hosting a new political debate programme with the youth wings of the parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic. Participants in the debate were from Livre, JS, JSD and IL. Chega had been invited to take part remotely, because an AAC general assembly had decided in February to bar the party led by André Ventura from its events and premises. Jaime Raposo, of the RUC's Information Department, told Lusa that he received a message on Sunday, 11 October, from Paulo Seco, head of the party's district branch, saying Chega would not attend because it did not agree with taking part digitally. Raposo described how the RUC handled the group's presence in the studio.
We ignored Chega's presence and continued the debate.
Raposo said that at one point Rita Matias picked up a studio microphone and he decided to cut the broadcast. Several members recorded everything on their phones, and he asked them to stop and leave, but they said they would stay and also wanted to take part. The sequence of events, as the sources describe it, is shown below.
- Paulo Seco tells the RUC that Chega will not attend the programme because it disagrees with digital participation
- Chega members and supporters enter the AAC building and the RUC studio during a live debate
- Chega members, including the two deputies, leave the studio and the building
Chega's response and the police presence
Contacted by Lusa, Rita Matias called the format of Chega's participation in the weekly programme promoted by the RUC offensive. She said it did not give all members of the party youth wings equal conditions. The AAC said the presence of the Chega members went against a decision of its general assembly that bars the party's representatives from entering the association's premises. The association also noted that the party had been invited to take part through digital means. The AAC said the authorities were called to the building, and the party members left the building after the police arrived.
The AAC's wider concerns
The AAC said the episode should not divert attention from the problems facing students in higher education. It cited socioeconomic hardship faced by thousands of students and expressed concern over the government's new attempt to unfreeze tuition fees (propinas). The association said it will remain focused on fighting for a universal, free and quality higher education.
