EU leaders nominate von der Leyen to head Commission for second term
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union leaders on Thursday nominated Germany’s centre-right Ursula von der Leyen for a second five-year term as head of the powerful European Commission and chose Portuguese socialist Antonio Costa as the next chairman of EU summits.
The leaders picked Estonia’s liberal Kaja Kallas as the next EU foreign affairs chief, to replace the outgoing Spaniard Josep Borrell. Outgoing summit chair Charles Michel announced the nominations on social media.
Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban voted against von der Leyen and Kallas, EU diplomats said.
Italy’s PM Georgia Meloni abstained from the vote on von der Leyen but voted against Costa and Kallas for their posts, they said.
Costa will hold his role from Dec. 1 this year until May 31, 2027.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Julia Payne and Andrew Gray, editing by Thomas Escritt)
