STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Ursula von der Leyen pledged to be a strong leader for Europe at a time of crisis and polarisation as she made her final leadership pitch in an address to lawmakers in the European Parliament on Thursday, ahead of a vote on whether to grant her a second five-year term as President of the Executive Board of the European Union.
The secret ballot in the 720-seat parliament follows a strong profits of the far right in last month’s European Parliament elections.
“I will never allow the extreme polarization of our societies to be accepted. I will never accept that demagogues and extremists destroy our European way of life. And I stand here today ready to take up the fight with all the Democratic forces in this House,” von der Leyen said.
If a majority of parliamentarians reject her candidacy, leaders of the 27 countries will have to scramble to find a replacement as Europe grapples with crises ranging from the war in Ukraine to climate change.
In her speech to parliament, von der Leyen said: “The fate of Europe depends on what we do next.”
Over the past five years, von der Leyen has steered the bloc through a series of crises, including Britain’s exit from the EU, the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She has also pushed a Green Deal aimed at making the EU climate neutral by 2050.
Von der Leyen’s election came as a newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer used to be welcoming around 45 government leaders to discuss migration, energy security and the threat from Russia as he tries to reset relations between the UK and its European neighbours.
The leaders endorsed conservative German von der Leyen at a summit late last month. The 65-year-old von der Leyen’s candidacy received a boost after the European People’s Party, which includes von der Leyen’s Christian Democratic Union, remained the largest group in the European Parliament after the election.
But her re-election is not a foregone conclusion, as some lawmakers within her own centre-right European People’s Party could still vote against her. She needs an absolute majority of 361 votes to secure a second term.
The German politician was praised for her leading role during the corona crisis, when the EU collectively bought vaccines for its citizens. But she also came under sharp criticism for the opacity of negotiations with vaccine makers.
The General Court of the EU ruled wednesday that the Commission did not give the public sufficient space access to information about the COVID-19 vaccine purchase agreements it entered into with pharmaceutical companies during the pandemic.
According to the elections to the European Parliament, Leaders of the European Union agreed on the civil servants who will hold key positions in the world’s largest trading bloc in the coming years on issues ranging from antitrust investigations to foreign policy. Von der Leyen will be joined by two new faces: Portugal’s Antonio Costa as president of the European Council and Estonia’s Kaja Kallas as the top diplomat of the world’s largest trading bloc.
While Costa’s nomination needed only the leaders’ approval, Kallas will also have to be approved by European lawmakers later this year. The Estonian prime minister is a staunch supporter of Ukraine and a fierce critic of Russia within the European Union and NATO.
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Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press Samuel Petrequin in Brussels contributed.
