European Parliament, Metsola re-elected president with a record majority –

Roberta Metsola remains President of the European Parliament. The Plenary meeting in Strasbourg has in fact: the Maltese MEP will lead the European Parliament for the next two and a half years. Metsola was confirmed with a record majority, having been elected with 562 yes votes out of 720 eligible voters (in 2022 she had been elected with 458 votes out of 705 MEPs). A very long applause greeted the outcome of the vote. The other candidate, Irene Montero (Spanish), received just 61 preferences. The required majority was set at 312 votes.

The term of office of the President of the European Parliament lasts half a legislature and before Metsola only Martin Schulz had been elected twice, serving from 2012 to 2017. Metsola has been an MEP since 2013 and from 2020 to 2022 she was Deputy Vice-President of the European Parliament. On 18 January 2022, a few days following the death of David Sassoli, she was elected President of the European Union Parliament for the first time. According to a majority agreement, in the second part of the legislature the presidency should pass to the Socialists and Democrats.