EU Leader Agrees On Prospective Von Der Leyen For Second Term: PM Orban Against PM Meloni Absolute

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. (Wikimedia Commons/European Parliament)

JAKARTA - Incumbent Ursula von der Leyen won nominations for the second term of office of the President of the European Commission, after the majority of EU leaders agreed to nominate themselves.

Apart from von der Leyen, Thursday's summit also agreed that Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas would become Head of Foreign Policy, while former Protugas Prime Minister Antonio Costa would serve as President of the European Council.

"Kaja, Ursula, and Antryptio received. The defense plan was accepted. Satisfactory. For Poland and Europe," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk tweeted at the end of a summit of the European Union aimed at the future and European security policy, Polish Prime Minister Donald, as reported by The Guardian June 28.

Meanwhile, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban voted against von der Leyen and Kallas, EU diplomats said, citing Reuters.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni abstained in voting for von der Leyen, but voted against Costa and Kallas for their posts, they said.

von der Leyen's path to a second five-year term is nothing certain: he should win the majority of the 720 members of the European Parliament, who are expected to vote next month.

Being the first woman to lead executives throughout EU history in 2019, von der Leyen is considered by the bloc leaders to have worked well in dealing with the European Union's response to the pandemic that occurred once in a century, as well as the biggest war on European soil since 1945.

His status as a leading candidate further confirmed after the European People's Party (EEP), which right-rightly acquired the highest number of seats in the European Parliament election earlier this month.

Another obstacle has been overcome this week, after an agreement between EU leaders representing the largest pro-European group in the bloc, the EEP, the Socialist and the centrally friendly Renew group.

The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has strongly criticized the agreement between the three pro-European groups. When the summit ended, PM Meloni repeated his criticism of the process which he said was "wrong in method and substance". His government, he said, continues to "try to finally give Italy a decent weight in Europe".