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Ursula von der Leyen: Second term in Brussels?

Photo: Ronald Wittek / EPA

Ursula von der Leyen is the official candidate of the European party family EPP for a second term as President of the EU Commission.

The CDU politician was formally installed at a congress in the Romanian capital Bucharest.

It was considered certain that the 65-year-old would be elected.

400 EPP delegates voted for von der Leyen's top candidacy, 89 spoke against it.

There were no opposing candidates.

In addition to the German CDU and CSU, the Christian-conservative EVP party family includes, among others, the Austrian ÖVP, the Italian Forza Italia and Spain's conservative People's Party PP.

The CDU nominated von der Leyen as an EPP candidate in February.

In a speech at the congress, von der Leyen cited the fight for peace, security, freedom and prosperity as a focus of her election campaign.

"The signal from Bucharest today is that the EPP stands for Europe, for a strong, secure, peaceful, prosperous, democratic and united Europe," said the 65-year-old.

With a view to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, she emphasized that the aim was to continue to help Kiev - "for as long as necessary."

Moscow "tried to sweep Ukraine away from the world."

She reiterated that the EPP supports the plan to create a new post of Defense Commissioner in the future Commission.

Von der Leyen named climate and agricultural policy as another focus for the election campaign.

It is still about protecting the environment but still remaining economically competitive.

In view of the ongoing protests by farmers, von der Leyen emphasized that it was unacceptable that some had to sell their products below the value of the production costs.

The post of EU Commission President must be filled after the European elections in June.

As a rule, a candidate from the European party family that performs best in the European elections is appointed.

The EPP is clearly ahead in surveys so far.

There is therefore a good chance that von der Leyen can remain in office.

As President of the EU Commission, von der Leyen has been in charge of around 32,000 employees since December 1, 2019, who, among other things, make proposals for new EU laws and monitor compliance with the European Treaties.

She also sits at the table as an EU representative at almost all major international summits such as the G7 or G20.

The US magazine Forbes recently named von der Leyen the “most powerful woman in the world”.

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