However, the new presidents were not unanimously elected at the European Council meeting. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán voiced their opposition to the summit. Against Meloni Costa and Orban van der Leyen.
The Italians abstained from voting on the Van der Leyen case.
The President of the European Commission is elected by the Heads of State and Government in the Council of Europe. According to the agreement, a candidate must win a qualified majority, which means in practice the support of at least 15 member states. The new President must be approved by the European Parliament.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk commented on the decision on stage X.
Ursula Von der Leyen is the former head of the German Ministry of Defense and a supporter of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, the initiator and advocate of the EU plan to achieve climate neutrality and deepen EU cooperation as part of the European Green Deal. Security.
Almost 5 years ago, during the summit in Brussels, the leaders of the EU countries jointly presented his candidacy for the post of President of the European Commission, and two weeks later the EP elected him to this position. He became the first representative of Germany to hold this position in more than 50 years.
“I will take on the responsibility of the next president of the Council of Europe with strong intentions,” he wrote on his X Costa account. The Portuguese thanked the Council members for their confidence and congratulated van der Leyen and Gallas for their recommendations.
In a briefing after the meeting, Kaja Kallas said his appointment was “an honor for Estonia, a small country that has been a member of the EU for 20 years”. The Prime Minister of Estonia wrote in X that he felt honored by the appointment and thanked for his trust. “We must continue to work together to ensure that Europe is an effective global partner and to ensure freedom, security and prosperity for our citizens.”
The meeting of EU leaders started in Brussels on Thursday at 4 pm and ended before midnight. Although the discussion on the filling of key EU posts was the main topic of the meeting, it was discussed only at the end, including: after the discussion on the situation in the Middle East and the priorities of the European Council for the next five years. According to EU sources, the summit agenda was planned this way after pressure from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who wanted to talk about priorities first and names later.
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