EU leaders agree on new EU leadership for the next 5 years

The heads of state and government of the European Union have agreed on the distribution of posts in the bloc for the next political term.

This was reported by a correspondent of the European Pravda from Brussels.

The discussion of the distribution of posts took place at a working dinner during a meeting of the European Council (EU summit). After a discussion that lasted about an hour, the leaders officially approved the appointment of top officials whose candidacies had previously been agreed upon at the working level.

The summit approved the candidacy of Ursula von der Leyen from the center-right European People's Party (EPP) for the post of President of the European Commission for a second five-year term.

She will be finally confirmed in the post in case of a positive vote in the European Parliament on July 18. Von der Leyen must receive at least 361 votes in favor, and her chances of success are estimated to be high. The coalition of center-right, center-left, and liberals in the new convocation of the European Parliament will have about 400 votes, although there is a possibility that some MEPs will refuse to support the president.

The president of the European Council will be Antonio Costa from the Social Democrats, whom the leaders agreed to appoint for 2.5 years, after which he may be reappointed for another 2.5 years.

Until recently, Costa was the head of the Portuguese government. "Yevropeiska Pravda wrote about him and the reasons for his appointment for only a short period in the article "A favorite with a lot of comments".

Kaja Kallas, currently the Prime Minister of Estonia, will become the head of the EU's diplomatic service, i.e. the EU's high representative for security and foreign policy for the next 5 years. This is the first time in the history of the EU that a candidate from Eastern Europe has been appointed to this position. Kallas will be appointed under the liberal quota. Kallas's party is already thinking about how to choose her replacement at the head of the Estonian government.

It is expected that Roberta Metsola, who, like von der Leyen, represents the EPP group, will be reappointed as President of the European Parliament for a new term; this decision, however, remains with the European Parliament.

Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 28/06/2024