Ursula von der Leyen won support from EU lawmakers on Thursday for another five-year term as president of the European Commission, the EU’s powerful executive body, Reuters reports.

 

“I would plain and simply like to express my gratitude to the leaders who endorsed my nomination for a second mandate as President of the European Commission. And I’m very honoured and I’m delighted to share this very special moment with, hopefully soon on screen, Antonio Costa, but also my dear friend Kaja Kallas. Antonio Costa as President of the European Council and Kaja Kallas as High Representative for foreign and security affairs, so Vice President of the next Commission.

 

For me, this means that I now will seek confirmation from the European Parliament on my appointment after presenting my political guidelines for the next five years. So there’s another step to do on the way forward,”  von der Leyen stated.

 

The 720-member European Parliament approved her with 401 votes in favor, 284 against and 15 abstentions. She needed 361 votes to pass.