BRUSSELS - Portuguese Prime Minister JoseSocrates will shortly announce his country's request for
financial aid from the European Union, a senior EU source saidon Wednesday just before Socrates was to appear on television.Portugal for months has resisted applying for an EU/IMFbailout, saying it could manage on its own, but its borrowingcosts reached unsustainable levels after the collapse of thegovernment last month.
"Things have moved quite quickly in the last days, thoughnot automatically," the senior EU source said.