Leaders reach agreement on top EU jobs

BRUSSELS — European Union leaders agreed to nominate Ursula von der Leyen of Germany for a second five-year term as president of the European Commission, the EU's powerful executive body.

At a summit in Brussels, the bloc's 27 national leaders also picked former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa as the future chair of their European Council meetings and selected Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as the next EU foreign policy chief.

"Mission accomplished! The European Council has delivered," the body's current chair, Charles Michel, told reporters early on Friday morning.

The leadership package represents continuity at the top of the bloc of some 450 million people, with centrist pro-EU factions keeping hold of top posts despite a far-right surge in the European Parliament in elections earlier this month.

The trio won broad backing, but right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni abstained from the vote on von der Leyen and voted against Costa and Kallas, according to diplomats.

Meloni said on X that she decided not to support the leadership slate "out of respect for the citizens and the indications that came from those citizens during the elections".

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban voted against von der Leyen and Kallas, diplomats said.

While Costa's appointment is decided by EU leaders alone, both von der Leyen and Kallas will also need to be approved by a majority of lawmakers. With 720 members, the threshold is 361. That vote could happen when the newly constituted European Parliament meets for the first time in July.

In brief remarks, von der Leyen thanked the leaders who backed her and said she would now seek the Parliament's support.

The leadership package is balanced politically as well as geographically. Von der Leyen hails from the center-right, Costa from the center-left and Kallas from Europe's liberal group.

"This is an enormous responsibility in this time of geopolitical tensions. There's war in Europe, but there's also growing instability globally," Kallas told reporters.

Costa said he would be "fully committed to promoting unity among the 27 member states" in his new role.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hailed the "quick, forward-looking" decisions on top jobs, saying the nominees would"ensure that Europe is well positioned in challenging times in the coming years".

In giving von der Leyen the nod for five more years, EU leaders sent a message about their priorities for the 27-nation bloc, putting security first at a time of marked geopolitical uncertainty.

Security first

At the summit on Thursday, the EU also signed a security agreement with Ukraine, debated how to bolster EU defenses and agreed on the bloc's strategic priorities for the next five years.

The agreement lays out the EU's commitments to help Ukraine in areas, including arms deliveries, military training, defense industry cooperation and demining.

Diplomats said von der Leyen told the summit that between 1999 and 2021, the EU increased defense spending by 20 percent.

Von der Leyen also told leaders that the EU needed to invest 500 billion euros ($535.30 billion) in defense over the next 10 years. Financing options ranged from national contributions, dedicated revenue streams and joint borrowing.

Investment in defense is part of the EU's "strategic agenda" that the leaders aim to agree on before dinner on Thursday, a document that tells EU institutions what European governments want them to focus on during their 2024-29 term.

Apart from defense, the agenda called for a more competitive EU to withstand economic pressure and prepare the bloc for enlargement that would include Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans.

Agencies Via Xinhua