Portugal has made a formal request for billions of euros in financial bailout, EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Friday.

"We have received the formal request of the Portuguese government for financial assistance from the European Union and the IMF," Rehn said on the sidelines of an EU finance ministers' meeting in Hungary.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said Wednesday that his country would seek a financial bailout from the EU.

The move made Portugal the third European country in need of a financial rescue package after Greece and Ireland.