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BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders Appointment of top three The European Commission on Thursday approved a common political system and announced the reappointment of German conservative Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president for another five years.
Next to Ms von der Leyen, head of the EU executive branch, are Portugal’s Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, and Estonia’s Kaya Karasu As the top diplomat of the world’s largest trading bloc.
“Mission accomplished,” outgoing EU Council President Charles Michel told reporters after chairing a summit of EU leaders. Von der Leyen and Kallas were present at a joint news conference, with Costa joining by video link.
Von der Leyen expressed her gratitude for serving a second term, saying it was “a great honour and I am happy to be able to share this moment.”
As the EU’s top diplomat, Kallas Foreign and security policy of the bloc “There is war in Europe, there is growing instability globally. My goal is definitely to work for European unity,” he said, as Russia’s war with Ukraine enters its third year.
Both Ms von der Leyen and Ms Kallas need to be approved by the European Parliament. Mr Costa’s nomination only needs the approval of leaders and he will take up his new role in the autumn.
The flagship jobs measure had been widely expected to be approved without controversy at the summit in Brussels after the agreement was reached by the European Parliament’s three centrist parties earlier this week.
But far-right politicians, emboldened by their strong performance in European elections earlier this month, have denounced it as a conspiracy.
Italian Prime M Giorgia Meloni The prime minister expressed frustration at being excluded from preparatory talks with a minority of leaders who are splitting key posts. Her nationalist European Conservatives and Reformists group emerged as the third biggest party in European Parliament elections earlier this month.
Meloni voted against the nominations of Portugal’s Costa and Estonia’s Kallas, two sources familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Meloni abstained on von der Leyen’s nomination for European Commission president, the same sources confirmed. The people asked not to be identified, in keeping with EU practice.
In a post on X, Meloni said the way the mainstream parties nominated the three was “wrong in both method and content. Out of respect for the people and the opinion they expressed during the election, I have decided not to support them.”
Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, was the only major critic of the agreement.
“European voters have been deceived,” he said on Facebook on Thursday night. “We will not support this shameful agreement!” His objections were moot: the deal only needed a two-thirds majority to pass.
The elections, held from June 6 to 9, shifted the European Parliament to the right, dealing a major blow to the mainstream ruling parties in France and Germany, but the three mainstream groups managed to retain a narrow majority of seats.
Costa, a former Portuguese prime minister, is from the centre-left Social Democrats, which came in second, while Kallas is prime minister in his tiny Baltic nation. He is from the pro-business liberal group that includes embattled French President Emmanuel Macron, but lost a seat in June’s election, dropping him to fourth place.
Appointments to the EU’s top brass are supposed to ensure geographic and ideological balance, but the final say lies with the EU’s 27 leaders, usually the most powerful among them.
While Costa’s appointment will be a decision made solely by EU leaders, both von der Leyen and Kallas will need to be approved by a majority of lawmakers – a minimum of 361 in a 720-seat parliament – and that vote could take place when the newly constituted European Parliament meets for the first time in July.
The European Council is made up of the leaders of Portugal’s 27 member states. If confirmed, Costa’s role as president would involve brokering deals within an often hopelessly divided political club. In Portugal, he is known as a shrewd negotiator.
But Ms von der Leyen’s role is the most powerful: as president, her job is to draw up and implement the EU’s common policies on everything from migration to the economy to environmental rules.
Critics say she is trying to roll back EU ambitions amid a far-right backlash against key policies of the past five years.
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