Brussels, June 27, 2024 – So, the EU's big shots are about to have a two-day gabfest in Brussels to decide who's going to be in charge of the whole shebang for the next while. And guess who's tipped to get a second shot at running the show? That's right, Ursula von der Leyen, the current European Commission President.
But hold your horses, because this shindig isn't just about the EU's VIPs patting each other on the back. Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, is crashing the party to thank everyone for talking about letting Ukraine join the EU club. Plus, Poland and some other folks from the Baltics are begging for cash to bulk up their defenses against the big bear next door, Russia.
So, a bunch of these EU honchos got together earlier in the week and they've pretty much agreed on who they want for the big jobs. These names come from the three main groups that call the shots in the European Parliament. It's looking like Ursula von der Leyen might stick around as European Commission President, Antonio Costa from Portugal could take the European Council's top spot, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is in the running for the EU's top diplomat gig.
Now, these six folks who are making the decisions come from different political crews. You've got Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Donald Tusk for the center-right EPP, Pedro Sánchez and Olaf Scholz for the socialist S&D, and Emmanuel Macron and Mark Rutte for the centrist Renew bunch.
But here's the kicker: Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who's the big cheese of the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), feels like she's been left out of the loop. She's a bit miffed, saying it's not cool to ignore the voters like that. And she's got a point, because the ECR is now the third biggest group in the European Parliament after some recent polls.
Hungary's Viktor Orban is also throwing a bit of shade, saying this whole setup goes against what the EU is all about and is basically giving the cold shoulder to everyone who's not left-wing or a liberal. He reckons EU leaders should be speaking for everyone, not just their own cliques.
Giorgia hasn't made up her mind if she's going to give the thumbs up to these new bigwigs. Sure, she might get some backup from Orban, but she doesn't have the numbers to stop the show. And since she's kind of a big deal in the European right-wing scene, von der Leyen's probably going to want to keep her happy.
Before all this goes down, Donald Tusk, who's on Team von der Leyen, said it's super important for Italy to have a say in EU stuff. And it's looking like Italy might get a fancy hat in the next EU commission if Giorgia plays nice. von der Leyen's already written a letter promising to deal with the whole mess of people sneaking into Europe, which is a hot button issue for Meloni.
If Ursula von der Leyen gets the nod from the EU leaders, she's going to have to win over a majority of the European Parliament members. That's 361 votes, and she can't just rely on her 190 pals in the EPP to get her there. So, she's got her work cut out for her if she wants to stay in the big chair.
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