The European People's Party, Europe's largest political party, is preparing to support Ursula von der Leyen in her fight for a second term as head of the European Commission. The position of the prime ministers of Poland and Greece should be crucial, Euractiv reports, writes UNN.
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Ursula von der Leyen, the former German defense minister elected by EU leaders as president of the European Commission in 2019, has yet to officially announce that she will seek re-election. However, it seems to be only a matter of time, the publication writes.
"To run again, von der Leyen must secure the nomination of her own political party, the CDU of Germany, and the support of two other member parties of the European People's Party by Feb. 21," the article said.
As indicated, the prevailing view in Brussels is that the German may be supported by the Polish Civic Platform and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' New Democracy.
However, skeptics point out that although Poland is a major EU member state, the country's Prime Minister Donald Tusk is now busy restoring the rule of law in Poland and will not be as active in European affairs. In turn, the positions of New Democracy and its leader in Greece are not so strong.
An EPP source told Euractiv that regardless of whether Civic Platform and New Democracy officially support von der Leyen's candidacy, Tusk and Mitsotakis are the two leaders who can and are willing to support her candidacy until the very end.
Another option, according to a source in the EPP, is for it to be backed by two smaller parties.
The EPP has called an informal leadership meeting on February 1, which will also be attended by von der Leyen. It will take place at the EPP headquarters in Brussels before a special European Council meeting. It could be an opportunity to discuss an action plan for the upcoming European Parliament elections.
The EPP is expected to gather more than a dozen leaders around the European Council table after the elections. The EU center-right hopes to maintain a significant bargaining advantage to win the top EU posts and secure the post of head of the European Commission.
Another German-based EPP source told the publication that von der Leyen may announce her intention to run again for president of the European Commission during the CDU meeting in Berlin on February 19. If that happens, the final step would be to endorse the candidacy at the EPP congress in Bucharest on March 6-7.
There have also been press reports in recent months that Mitsotakis and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic may run for important EU posts.
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic publicly stated earlier this month that it was no secret that Plenkovic was "following the position of Charles Michel," i.e., the president of the European Council. Both Plenković and Mitsotakis have categorically denied such speculation.
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