European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who will be the EU’s next foreign affairs chief, and former prime minister of Portugal António Costa who will take over as president of the European Council. Ursula von der Leyen’s name was proposed for a second term as European Commission president, and despite some protests from Italy she was voted through by a majority of the 27 EU leaders. Amid talks on the Middle East, Ukraine and defence spending, the big issue was always going to be whether von der Leyen got the backing of member states for another five years. READ MOREThe well-flagged package of Von der Leyen, Kallas andCosta was hammered out by a small group of leaders representing the main political groups. There were some queries about the choice of Costa as next president, running EU leaders’ summits.

Source: The Irish Times June 28, 2024 23:04 UTC