EU’s largest party endorses Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second term as EU Commission chief

By STEPHEN McGRATH and NICOLAE DUMITRACHE
Associated Press

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The European Union’s largest political party has endorsed Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second five-year term at the helm of the bloc’s powerful Commission. Von der Leyen’s nomination at a gathering on Thursday of her center-right European People’s Party in Romania’s capital, Bucharest, comes ahead of June 6-9 elections for the European Parliament, the EU’s only democratically elected institution. The endorsement places her firmly as a frontrunner for the top job in the 27-nation bloc. The EPP is expected to remain the biggest in the bloc’s legislature, but von der Leyen’s posting would still require approval from leaders of the EU’s member states. Almost half of the EU’s 27 national leaders are members of the EPP.