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EU leaders have endorsed a second five-year term for Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president.
A majority of leaders at a summit in Brussels on Thursday night agreed to von der Leyen remaining in post, alongside choosing former Portuguese prime minister António Costa as EU Council president and Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas as the bloc’s chief diplomat.
Italian prime Minister Giorgia Meloni abstained, rather than backing von der Leyen, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán voted against, according to people briefed on the summit discussion.
Supported by Europe’s largest centrist parties, von der Leyen had been expected to remain commission president, as EU capitals preferred continuity over change given the turmoil buffeting the continent due to the war in Ukraine, tensions with China and political uncertainty in some of the bloc’s key member states.
Von der Leyen must now win a majority in the European parliament to secure her second term as head of the commission.
A coalition of her centre-right European People’s party, the Socialists and Democrats, and the liberal Renew Group have around 410 seats in the 720-strong chamber. A vote is scheduled to take place in the week of July 15.
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