Ursula von der Leyen will serve a second term as European Commission president after comfortably winning the support of lawmakers with promises to boost the EU’s defence capabilities and economic competitiveness.
Von der Leyen, who has run the commission since 2019, pledged to stay the course on Europe’s green transition and in supporting Ukraine if given a second term. She has pitched herself as a safe pair of hands as the continent wrestles with war, disruptive new technologies and political upheaval in the US.
The German won 401 votes in the 720-strong European parliament, after the Green party supported a commission candidate for the first time, joining the three centrist parties that had publicly backed von der Leyen ahead of the secret ballot.