Ursula von der Leyen likely to seek second European Commission president term
Most indications point towards President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen returning for a second term later this year. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) has also been linked with the job, in some media reports.
Whereas von der Leyen is likely to seek nomination as the center-right European People's Party (EPP) or Spitzenkandidat, its lead candidate – von der Leyen is a German-speaker at least –for the commission president post, this may put her alongside Prime Minister Kallas, who, were she to be named a Spitzenkandidat too, would do so on behalf of the liberal-centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE)/Renew Europe.
Neither von der Leyen nor Kallas would actually seek election to the European Parliament, which Kallas was a member of 2014-2019, however.
Von der Leyen's home party in Germany, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) is due to meet in Berlin today, Monday, and is expected to announce her candidacy for a second, five-year term as President of the European Commission. She is seen as the favorite for the post, though the EPP still has to formalize her candidacy, which is likely to take place March 6-7 in Bucharest.
Von der Leyen did not run in the 2019 European elections either; she went straight from her previous role as Germany's defense minister, to being commission president by the end of that year.
Kallas' name has also been linked in some media reports with the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy post (in effect the EU's foreign policy chief, a post currently occupied by Josep Borell).
Kallas has also been mentioned in the context of the NATO secretary general post, once Jens Stoltenberg steps down, but then again so has von der Leyen. Both women may be seen as too hawkish for the role, however; according to Bild (link in German), von der Leyen's own chancellor, Olaf Scholz, may have obstructed her progress there.
Of other leading EU figures, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, had initially agreed to run in June's European Parliament elections, but subsequently changed his mind.
The European elections take place in June, with voting on candidates for the heads of most institutions and other top roles including each member state's own commissioner, happening later on in the year.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte,Joosep Värk, Urmet Kook
