Brussels, July 16, 2024, The Europe Today: Roberta Metsola has been re-elected to a second term as President of the European Parliament on Tuesday, securing an overwhelming victory with 90% of the vote, the largest margin since direct elections to the parliament began in 1979.
The Maltese conservative received 562 votes, decisively surpassing her left-wing rival, Irene Montero of Spain, who garnered only 61 votes. Some 76 ballots were left blank. Despite facing criticism over her stance on preventing abortion access in Malta, Metsola’s decisive win underscores strong support within the parliament.
Metsola’s re-election to a second two-and-a-half-year term comes a month after the EU elections, as the bloc grapples with a looming housing crisis and a stagnant economy.
Roberta Metsola’s Address to the Parliament
In her acceptance speech, Roberta Metsola thanked the assembly and called on lawmakers to reinvigorate their commitment to a united Europe.
“We must be the ones who push the legislation that our people want and need,” Metsola said. Roberta vowed to “leave Europe a better place by creating a new security and defense framework that keeps people safe.”
Viktor Orban’s Address Postponed
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was scheduled to address the parliament, but his speech was postponed due to a busy voting schedule. This decision coincided with the European Commission boycotting his turn as the rotating European Council president. In the early days of his council presidency, Orban visited Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin and former US leader Donald Trump.
Von der Leyen’s Future Uncertain
The future of Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission remains uncertain. In 2019, she won her position by a relatively small margin, and her re-election is in doubt despite her center-right European People’s Party (EPP) being the largest political group in the EU. Many within the parliament have signaled their intention to vote against her in the upcoming secret ballot.
Von der Leyen faces criticism from the left for not being stringent enough on carbon emissions and from a rising far-right bloc led by Orban and France’s National Rally, which now forms part of the European Parliament’s third-largest group.
