Ursula von der Leyen re-elected as European Commission President with 401 votes

Ursula von der Leyen has been re-elected as Commission President by a landslide, as expected, despite her conviction by the European Court of Justice in the vaccine procurement case.

Such election results testify to the level of corruption in Brussels, as well as to the generosity of Ursula von der Leyen herself, who clearly knew who to share with.

707 MEPs took part in the vote, and the majority required by the 65-year-old German was 360 votes. 401 MEPs voted for Ursula von der Leyen, 284 voted against. The vote was preceded by consultations and negotiations that lasted until the last minute, and in the end the Greens supported the German candidate.

The Greens/EFA Group has formally decided to support Ursula @vonderleyen as @EU_Commission President.

As part of the 4-party majority, we have secured commitments on the #EUGreenDealmaking the EU more socially fair & protecting democracy.

We keep the far-right out of power.

— Greens/EFA in the EU Parliament 🌍 (@GreensEFA) July 18, 2024

In a speech before the vote, von der Leyen outlined her priorities for the next five years, pledging to focus on boosting the economy's competitiveness EU and promised to support Ukraine as long as it is needed.

In 2019, Ursula von der Leyen was nominated by the European Council as a candidate for the post of President of the European Commission, becoming the first woman to hold the post. In the vote at that time, she received 383 votes in favour out of 733 members, 327 votes against, 22 abstentions and one invalid vote.

Before the vote, there was an incident with a Romanian MEP shouting “go away, Ursula”.

Romanian MEP Diana Sosoacă, leader of the SOS party, was ejected from the European Parliament during a protest against Ursula von der Leyen, holding images of Christ and the Virgin Mary. “Go away, Ursula,” ” she shouted, as shown in a video recording of yesterday's debate on Ursula von der Leyen's candidacy.

MEP Gets Kicked Out as She Was Shouting Against von der Leyen pic.twitter.com/eaEeRE77ud

— Fidias (@Fidias0) July 18, 2024

“Don't touch me! I have the right to speak. I represent the Romanians who voted for me!” Shoshoake screamed.

“How many people does it take to bring her out?” – said the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who called for Diana Soshoaka to be removed from the hall.

In her first speech, she said she would bring a priest to bless the offices and exorcise the devil from the EU's legislative body, Politico reports. “There are devils in the European Parliament, as in the Romanian Parliament. I will bring a priest to bless the offices and other rooms. This is my right to express my religious faith,” – Shoshoake told journalists and added that she had already brought incense, myrrh and an icon of Saint Paraskeva.

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