Socialist leader Antonio Costa celebrates victory in elections

Socialist Party leader and incumbent prime minister Antonio Costa has promised to build on his party's record of political stability in Portugal, after securing the most votes in the general election on Sunday. With 226 seats in the 230-seat parliament awarded in the official count, the Socialists reached 106 seats, compared with 77 for the second-place Social Democratic Party.

The Socialists, however, fell short of a parliamentary majority. Costa said his prospective government will continue its efforts to improve Portugal's debt-heavy public finances, a key achievement in his first term which endeared him to the Portuguese and to other European leaders keen to avoid a repeat of the continent's recent financial crisis.