Ursula von der Leyen announces re-election bid as European Commission president
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has confirmed her intention to lead the executive for five more years, writes Euronews.
The announcement was made on Monday afternoon after a meeting of her party, Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which backed her bid by unanimity.
"The world today is completely different than it was in 2019. We've been through a lot together over the past five years, and I think you could say we've accomplished more than we could ever imagine," she said.
"In these five years, not only has my passion for Europe grown but, of course, also my experience of how much this Europe can achieve for its people," she went on.
"The last five years have been as challenging as they have been extraordinary."
In a thinly veiled reference to the rise of far-right parties seen in several European countries, von der Leyen vowed to "make the centre strong" and defend the bloc "against the divisive forces from within and without."
"I am firmly convinced that this is possible and that we have the strength to do it. And that is the task that I set myself," she said.
The news caps off weeks of relentless speculation in Brussels over her political future, which has also been linked to NATO, and heats up the race to preside over the Commission, the most powerful institution in the European Union.
Von der Leyen's nomination will be confirmed by acclamation in early March during the annual congress of her political family, the centre-right European People's Party (EPP). The EPP had set 21 February as the deadline for submitting internal applications.
