Ursula von der Leyen is President of the European Commission for a second term
Strasbourg, July 19 (Hibya) - Ursula von der Leyen won a decisive victory in the European Parliament as mainstream MEPs united against anti-EU and far-right forces to win a second term as president of the European Commission.
The hall in Strasbourg erupted in applause when it was announced that von der Leyen, the first woman to lead the EU executive, had cleared the threshold with 41 votes.
The German Christian Democrat will lead the EU's law-making and implementation body until 2029.
“I cannot tell you how grateful I am for the trust of all the MEPs who voted for me,” von der Leyen tweeted minutes after the results were announced.
The victory cemented von der Leyen's status as one of the most important commission presidents in the 67-year history of the European project. She was praised for her clear and early support for Ukraine, for her pioneering intervention in the pandemic that led to the joint vaccine purchase and, for the first time, to joint borrowing with the creation of the Covid rescue fund.
However, it has also been criticized for relying heavily on a narrow group of advisors and avoiding supervision. On Wednesday, the European Court of Justice found that the commission had failed to ensure “sufficiently wide public access” to the Covid vaccines' procurement deals.
To address these concerns, von der Leyen promised “more transparency, more accountability” and more frequent visits to parliament on Thursday.
In a speech to the Strasbourg chamber before the vote, she called on “all democratic forces in this parliament” to support her and outlined a wide-ranging set of priorities for her second term.
“I will never accept that demagogues and extremists will destroy our European way of life,” he said.
The gains made by the far right in recent elections and the turbulent international backdrop explain why von der Leyen returned with a higher vote than in 2019.
In total, 401 MPs voted in favour, 284 against, 15 abstained, and seven votes were invalidated. He needed 360 votes to be re-elected.
The result will be a relief to EU leaders, who nominated her for a second term last month after European Parliament elections shifted the parliament to the right.
The Greens, who voted against von der Leyen in 2019, had said they would support her to keep the far right out of power.
“Is this a green program she is offering us? I can tell you no,” Terry Reintke, a co-leader of the Greens, said from the rostrum before the vote. But he added that a majority of pro-European democratic groups was crucial to “prevent the far right from coming to power”.
Albania News Agency