Malta's Metsola reelected as EU Parliament president
July 16, 2024
Roberta Metsola was re-elected to a second term as president of the European Parliament on Tuesday. The Maltese conservative won 90% of the vote, the largest margin since direct elections to the parliament began in 1979.
The decisive victory came despite criticism in the run-up to the vote over her record on preventing abortion access in Malta. With 562 votes in her favor, she resoundingly beat her left-wing rival Irene Montero of Spain, who garnered only 61 votes. Some 76 ballots were left blank.
Metsola's election to a second two-and-a-half-year term comes a month after EU elections and as the bloc is facing a looming housing crisis and a stagnant economy.
What did Metsola say?
Metsola thanked the assembly before urging lawmakers to recapture their belief that "belief that ours is a Europe for all."
"We must be the ones who push the legislation that our people want and need," she said, vowing to "leave Europe a better place by creating a new security and defense framework that keeps people safe."
Hungary's Viktor Orban was due to address the parliament, but his speech was postponed. The official reason was a busy voting schedule, however, the decision came at the same time the European Commission was boycotting his turn as the rotating European Council president. In the first days of his council presidency, Orban visited Moscow to speak with President Vladimir Putin and met with former US leader Donald Trump.
Von der Leyen's future uncertain
Less certain is the reelection of Germany's Ursula von der Leyen to lead the European Commission. In 2019, she won by a relatively small margin, and EU leaders agreed to her candidacy in June only after protracted negotiations. Although her center-right European People's Party (EPP) is the biggest political group in the EU, many have signaled that they will vote against her in the secret ballot.
Von der Leyen is unpopular with the left for seemingly not being tough enough on carbon emissions, but also with an ascendant far-right bloc led by Orban and France's National Rally, which are now part of the European Parliament's third-largest bloc.
es/ab (dpa, Reuters)