Ursula von der Leyen has been elected as head of the European Commission for a second term.
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The vote was secret, so it was not known until the very end whether the European Commission President would be able to get this post for the second time. 401 MEPs voted for her appointment, 284 voted against. A total of 707 MEPs took part in the voting procedure.
Before this, the European Parliament discussed the candidacy of Ursula von der Leyen for a second five-year term as head of the European Commission.
During her speech, the politician stated that she plans to turn the EU into a military union.
Von der Leyen represents the largest faction in the European Parliament, the centre-right European People’s Party. Her candidacy was approved by the heads of EU states. However, it is expected that the candidacy will be approved only by a small majority, since the right and left are against it. Earlier, the media even suggested that von der Leyen might not be re-elected.
In her keynote speech to the new European Parliament in Brussels, von der Leyen reiterated her commitment to supporting Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” She criticized those she believes are helping Russia advance its narratives. She singled out Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, saying his recent trip to Moscow was not a “peace” mission, as Orban himself has said, but an attempt at “appeasement.”
The head of the European Commission devoted a significant part of her speech to strengthening the EU’s defense capability against the Russian threat. She promised to create a European Defense Union. Among other things, the European Commission will have the position of Defense Commissioner for the first time. Joint EU defense projects will concern, in particular, air defense and protection against cyber threats.
Von der Leyen also promised to further strengthen controls at external borders, accusing Russia and Belarus of using migrants from third countries to put pressure on the EU. She promised to triple the number of staff in the EU’s joint border patrol service.
Von der Leyen advocated further expansion of the EU, in particular for the admission of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia into the union, but noted that their admission to the EU would depend on their achievements.
To approve the candidate for the head of the European Commission, 361 of 720 votes were needed. The centrist coalition supporting von der Leyen has 401 mandates, but it was expected that in a secret ballot some members could vote against for various reasons.
Von der Leyen could have been helped by the votes of the opposition Greens or the conservatives and reformists.
In 2019, Ursula von der Leyen won the vote by a slim margin, receiving just nine more votes than she needed.
Source: Racurs
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