At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, the 27th of June, leaders of the bloc nominated Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as President of the European Commission (EC) and chose former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa as President of the European Council meetings and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as the next European Union (EU) foreign policy chief, reports Reuters.
This trio reflects continuity, with centrist pro-European factions retaining the top jobs despite the rise of the far-right in the European Parliament elections.
“Mission accomplished! The European Council has delivered,”
current European Council President Charles Michel told reporters early on Friday morning.
According to diplomats, the trio won broad support, but Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni abstained from voting for von der Leyen and voted against Costa and Kallass.
Meloni stated on “X” that she decided not to support the leaders’ list “out of respect for the citizens and the indications that came from these citizens during the elections”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, another right-wing politician, voted against von der Leyen and did not vote for Kallass, diplomats said.
Von der Leyen’s nomination needs the approval of the European Parliament, which is likely to be more difficult. “The challenge is to convince – if possible – a broad majority for a strong Europe,” von der Leyen said. “That is what I will work on.”
The candidates are politically and geographically balanced, with von der Leyen representing the centre-right, Costa the centre-left and Kallass the Liberals.
“At this time of geopolitical tension, this is a huge responsibility. There is war in Europe, but there is also growing instability in the world.” Kallass told reporters. In his new role, Costa said, he would “make every effort to promote unity among the 27 Member States”.
At the summit, EU leaders also signed a security agreement with Ukraine, setting out commitments in nine areas of security policy,
including arms supplies, military training, defence cooperation and demining.
They also discussed strengthening the EU’s defence against Russia, agreed on the bloc’s strategic priorities for the next five years and reaffirmed their commitment to support Ukraine until it regains the lands annexed by Moscow, despite the political uncertainty in Europe and the US, stressing that “Russia must not prevail”.
Diplomats said that von der Leyen pointed out at the summit that between 1999 and 2021 the EU increased defence spending by 20%, China by 600% and Russia by 300%, even before its invasion of Ukraine, and urged leaders to invest 500 billion euros in defence over the next decade through national contributions, dedicated revenue streams and joint borrowing.
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