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BRUSSELS – EU leaders have elected former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa as President of the European Council and proposed Ursula von der Leyen for a new term as President of the European Commission, with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as the candidate for High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, current European Council President Charles Michel announced.
The appointment of von der Leyen and Kallas as President of the Commission and the head of European diplomacy, respectively, now needs to be confirmed by the European Parliament. On the other hand, the European Council elects its own president. “The European Council has proposed von der Leyen as a candidate for President of the European Commission,” Michel stated.
In a separate announcement, he mentioned that the European Council has chosen Kaja Kallas as the candidate for High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. “The European Council has elected António Costa as the new President of the European Council,” Michel confirmed. EU leaders were deciding on a package of top roles, agreed upon earlier by three political groups in the European Parliament – the European People’s Party, Social Democrats, and Liberals.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas stated that she was honored by the support from the European Council and assessed that the main challenges for European foreign policy are the war in Europe and increasing instability in the EU’s neighborhood and globally. “As High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, I will serve our common interests. Europe should be a place where people are free, safe, and prosperous. My work has been and will be guided by these goals,” Kallas emphasized. (June 27)