EU leaders back Ursula von der Leyen for second term as Commission boss

All nominees for the bloc's top jobs have been appointed for the next five years

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faces challenges including the Russian threat and climate change. AFP

EU leaders have agreed to return Ursula von der Leyen as the head of the European Commission, in a move backed on Friday by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's political party despite her abstaining on the vote in Brussels.

Italy's Forza Italia, part of the right-wing ruling coalition, will vote in favour of Ms von der Leyen as president of the Commission, the country's Foreign Minister and head of the party Antonio Tajani said just hours after Ms Meloni expressed her displeasure at being excluded from negotiations on EU jobs.

Ms Meloni's abstention had raised questions about the Ms von der Leyen's ability to gather enough support in a secret vote to be held next month in the EU Parliament – the final green light before her appointment is final.

The Italian leader said negotiators ignored the success of her far-right group in the recent European election.

Questioned about Ms Meloni's criticism, Ms von der Leyen told reporters that she would work with the whole of parliament.

“We work with those who are pro-European, pro-Ukraine and pro-rule of law and I have to convince a majority,” she said on Friday morning at the end of a meeting of the 27 EU leaders, during which the top jobs led the agenda.

Heads of state also confirmed their backing for Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as the bloc's foreign affairs chief and former Portuguese premier Antonio Costa as the future chairman of their European Council meetings, the only official who does not need a parliament vote to be confirmed in his job.

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”.

The Kremlin said the nominations of Ms von der Leyen and Ms Kallas were bad for EU-Russia relations.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Ms Kallas was known for her stark anti-Russian statements and had not shown any inclination towards diplomacy. Moscow in February declared Ms Kallas a “wanted person” for removing Soviet-era Second World War memorials in Estonia

Ms 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”. She voted against Mr Costa and Ms Kallas and abstained on Ms von der Leyen.

Although there was a desire to achieve unanimity, the decision needed the support of 15 of 27 leaders.

Leaders had attempted to assuage Ms Meloni ahead of the meeting, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who negotiated the deal for the European People's Party, sending a strong signal in her direction as the summit opened.

“There is no Europe without Italy, and there's no decision without Prime Minister Meloni. It's obvious,” he told reporters, with similar conciliatory sounds coming from Greece and Cyprus.

The three political groups that are most powerful in the European Parliament – the right (EPP), socialists (S&D) and centre (Renew) – held negotiations to choose their nominees.

Short of a seat at the top table, Ms Meloni made it clear she wanted an influential role for Italy, starting with a vice presidency in the next European Commission, with a say over industry and agriculture.

Tested during her first term by crises from the Covid pandemic to the Ukraine war, former German defence minister Ms von der Leyen, if confirmed, faces another set of challenges, from the Russian threat, to climate change, to a rising China.

There was little mystery around the final line-up, as an inner group of leaders had locked in a draft deal on the three names days earlier.

Ms Kallas said she was honoured to be chosen for the role of foreign policy chief for the bloc. “This is an enormous responsibility in this time of geopolitical tensions. There's war in Europe, but there's also growing instability globally,” she told reporters.

Speaking by video link, Mr Costa said he would be “fully committed to promoting unity among the 27 member states” in his new role. Politicians are expected to return the EPP's Roberta Metsola as EU Parliament President.

With France heading to the polls on Sunday for the first round of an election where the far-right National Rally has a chance of leading the government, there was clear eagerness to have the EU jobs squared away.

The summit was also a new chance to display a united front on Ukraine, whose President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined EU leaders to sign an accord on long-term security commitments, two days after Ukraine began formal membership negotiations.

While hailing the deal, Mr Zelenskyy spoke of the need to take the “next steps” including air defence, which was needed “urgently on the battlefield”.