The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was elected as the top candidate of her European People’s Party on Thursday with a clear majority. However, there was no opposing candidate.
The former German defense minister, who is aiming for a new term as Commission president, received 400 of the 499 votes cast. 89 of the deputies voted against Von der Leyen, while ten others cast invalid votes. Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) declared his yes to her election at the party congress in Bucharest: she was a “good and suitable candidate”.
Von der Leyen: “Populists want to destroy our Europe”
In Von der Leyen, the EPP has a very experienced candidate who has been able to learn many lessons from her work as President of the Commission since December 2019. “As chair of the Commission, she was always my contact person as chancellor when there were some bigger differences of opinion about the way the Commission was acting.” He cited as an example major issues such as migration or the issue of transit, where the transport sector The Commissioner has not been able to accommodate Austria.
“Our Europe is being challenged like never before by populists and demagogues,” Von der Leyen said in her speech to delegates before her freestyle. “They want to destroy our Europe. We, the EPP, will never allow this,” the German CDU politician explained. There is a lot at stake in the European elections. This is the ‘signal from Bucharest: the EPP stands for Europe, for Ukraine, for the rule of law.’ She mentioned asylum and migration, among other things, as major challenges: “We Europeans decide who comes to Europe, not the organized people smugglers.”
EPP President: “You will be a strong top candidate”
The EPP led by Ursula von der Leyen has solved many problems in recent years, EPP President Manfred Weber emphasized. He mentioned the Green Deal as an example. “The EPP will be in good hands with Ursula.” He thanked the head of the Commission for her leadership: “You will be a strong top candidate.”
Source: Krone
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