Tajani and Forza Italia’s endorsement of a second von der Leyen term. “If she’s the candidate, we’ll vote for her”

Brussels – The European People’s Party Bucharest Congress is just over a month away. On March 6-7, Europe’s center-right political family will choose its candidate to lead the European Commission, and in pole position is the reappointment of the current leader of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen. “It seems to me that she is in pole position; if she is the candidate, we will vote for her,” said Forza Italia Secretary Antonio Tajani.

“In Bucharest, we will elect our candidate to become president of the European Commission, who is likely to be the future president of the European Commission, because the EPP will win the elections,” Tajani said. At a press point in Brussels on the sidelines of the EU-ASEAN Ministerial Forum, the Italian foreign minister’s endorsement was reinforced by the fact that von der Leyen “in recent months has been very attentive to the needs of our country.”

The choice of who will  lead the next European Commission will split the governing coalition in Italy. “For the past 30 years in Europe we have been part of different political families. No electoral agreement requires Forza Italia, the League, and Fratelli d’Italia to be part of the same political group. We are different parties in Europe,” Tajani candidly admitted, referring to the words of the League’s secretary Matteo Salvini, who, in Brussels a few days ago, called the German leader’s mandate “disastrous.”