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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Michael Howie

Ursula von der Leyen wins second five-year term as European Commission president

Ursula von der Leyen won support from EU lawmakers on Thursday for another five-year term as president of the European Commission, the EU's powerful executive body.

Ms von der Leyen was backed by a majority of the 720-member European Parliament.

The re-election ensures leadership continuity for the 27-nation bloc as it wrestles with crises ranging from the war in Ukraine to climate change, migration and housing shortages.

She won 401 votes in the secret ballot with 284 against and 15 abstentions.

Ms von der Leyen pledged to be a strong leader for Europe in a time of crisis and polarisation as she made her final leadership pitch in a speech to European Parliament members.

“I will never let the extreme polarization of our societies become accepted. I will never accept that demagogues and extremists destroy our European way of life. And I stand here today ready to lead the fight with all the Democratic forces in this house,” Ms von der Leyen said.

The vote comes hot on the heels of strong gains by the far-right in last month's election for the European Parliament.

She also took a swipe at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his recent visit to Russia shortly after his country took over the rotating six-month EU presidency.

"This so-called peace mission was nothing but an appeasement mission," Ms von der Leyen said as she vowed that Europe would remain shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine.

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