BUCHAREST (Reuters) – European Union’s leading political group, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), voted on Thursday to endorse European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as their candidate to run the bloc’s powerful executive.
EPP delegates voted 400 for and 89 against in rubberstamping von der Leyen as their candidate for another five years in one of the EU’s top jobs, that will be decided following a bloc-wide parliamentary election in June.
Speaking at the party caucus in Bucharest, von der Leyen listed the war in Ukraine, the crisis in Gaza destabilising the Middle East, and the raise of China as key challenges ahead for the 27-nation EU, a wealthy bloc of some 450 million people.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, editing by Bart Meijer)
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