Ursula von der Leyen has been reelected to a second five-year term as president of the European Commission after a vote by EU lawmakers, as the continent\u2019s mainstream seeks to reassert itself in the face of a resurgent far right. <\/p>\n
In an earlier pitch to the European parliament in Strasbourg, France, von der Leyen on Thursday pledged to invest in infrastructure and industry, create a new \u201cEuropean Defense Union\u201d and stay the course on the continent\u2019s green transition. <\/p>\n
After a secret ballot, von der Leyen was reelected with 401 votes in favor and 284 against. She needed more than 360 ballots to secure a majority in the 720-seat parliament. <\/p>\n
Von der Leyen, who led the commission through the Covid-19 pandemic and the beginning of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, will now preside over a bloc that shifted rightward after last month\u2019s European elections, when far-right parties won a record number of seats. <\/p>\n
Addressing the parliament before the lunchtime vote, von der Leyen said the next five years of her term \u201cwill define Europe\u2019s place in the world for the next five decades. It will decide whether we shape our own future or let it be shaped by events or by others.\u201d <\/p>\n
Von der Leyen, a 65-year-old German national, was parachuted into the presidential candidacy process as a compromise candidate in 2019, but has since become one of Europe\u2019s most solid pillars. Several of the continent\u2019s other leaders \u2013 from Germany\u2019s former Chancellor Angela Merkel to French President Emmanuel Macron \u2013 have retired or been weakened by domestic politics. <\/p>\n
Von der Leyen\u2019s own position was somewhat diminished by last month\u2019s election, which saw a surge in support for the far right and saw Brussels\u2019 center ground shrink. <\/p>\n
Her reelection was not certain but widely expected, after she was proposed by EU leaders and could rely on the support of her center-right European People\u2019s Party (EPP), as well as the center-left Socialist and Democrats (S&D) and liberal Renew blocs. Shortly before Thursday\u2019s vote, the Green bloc also announced it would support her. <\/p>\n
Earlier Thursday, von der Leyen published a 31-page policy proposal, setting out her priorities if she won a second term. <\/p>\n
Echoing remarks she made after last month\u2019s vote, she stressed \u201cit is essential that the democratic center in Europe holds\u201d in the face of resurgent extremes, calling on mainstream parties to \u201clive up to the scale of the concerns and the challenges that people face in their lives.\u201d <\/p>\n
Von der Leyen pledged to \u201cturbo charge investment\u201d needed by cash-strapped EU governments for their \u201cgreen, digital and social transition.\u201d <\/p>\n
She also vowed to create a European Defense Union and appoint a commissioner for defense, a new role for the bloc that was forged in peacetime but has since had to respond to Russia\u2019s brutal war in Ukraine, and the prospect of a Donald Trump-led United States retreating from the world stage. <\/p>\n
Under the proposed new defense union, member states will retain responsibility for their own troops, but will work more closely with others to \u201ccoordinate efforts to strengthen the defense industrial base.\u201d She also proposed a Europe-wide air defense system and cyber protection measures. <\/p>\n
Speaking in Strasbourg before her reelection, von der Leyen said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban\u2019s recent trip to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin was \u201can appeasement mission,\u201d and pledged to maintain EU support for Ukraine. <\/p>\n
Von der Leyen\u2019s reelection comes a day after the EU\u2019s second-highest court delivered an unusual rebuke to the commission, ruling it was not transparent enough about the contracts it signed for Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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