Geneva [Switzerland], June 29: According to AFP, the leaders of the 27 member countries at the meeting in Belgium that ended on the evening of June 27 (local time) also chose former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa to be the president of the European Council 5 year period. All three candidates come from the centrist coalition that controls the European Parliament, despite the rise of the far right. Ms. von der Leyen and Ms. Kallas will need approval from the European Parliament (EP) in a secret vote, and Mr. Costa will replace Mr. Charles Michel from December 1 without this approval.
Ms. von der Leyen said she would soon present political priorities to convince the EP, after going through her first term when the world witnessed many crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. At the conference, the EU signed a security agreement with Ukraine and agreed on strategic priorities for the next five years. This agreement sets out EU commitments to help Ukraine in many areas such as weapons supply, military training, defense industry cooperation and mine clearance.
Regarding policy, Ms. von der Leyen said that the EU needs to invest 500 billion euros to strengthen defense in the next decade. Besides defense, EU members call for increased competitiveness to cope with economic pressure from China and the US, as well as prepare to admit Ukraine, Moldova and Western Balkan countries.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper