After today's voting, the "powerful" lady of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, remains at the helm of the European Commission, the EU's executive body, having secured the support of a majority of members of the European Parliament, with 401 votes.
HDN Newsroom
The 65-year-old German politician and candidate of the European People's Party was re-elected with 401 votes out of a total of 707 MEPs who voted out of a total of 720 in the European Parliament. 284 MEPs voted against her re-election, while 15 abstained and 7 were invalid.
Von der Leyen needed a total of 361 votes to secure re-election, a number that far exceeded after the Greens agreed to back her candidacy.
Before the vote, Ursula von der Leyen reiterated her vision for the European Union and committed in particular to creating a "true European Defence Union", with flagship projects in the fields of air and cyber defence over the next five years.
"Member states will always retain responsibility for their own troops," von der Leyen said in her speech ahead of a European Parliament vote later in the day to seek a new mandate.
"But there is much Europe can do to support and coordinate efforts to strengthen the defence industrial base, innovation and the (European) single market," he added.
The vote was secret.
