Strasbourg at the beginning of July welcomes journalists and parliamentarians warmly for the elections of the 31st President of European Parliament.
It goes back to 1949 when Winston Churchill expressed his desire to see Strasbourg become the “Capital of Europe”. After the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg was chosen by the European Union to be the seat of its Parliament.
The impressive building of European Parliament in Strasburg embodies diversity, reconciliation, peace and harmony between the people of Europe. The institution of European Parliament guarantees democracy and human rights.
Plenary session- Election of the President of Parliament – First ballot
Until the 1979, European Parliaments Presidents were chosen an annual basis. Since the first European Parliament elections by voting in 1979, the President is elected for a period of two and a half years. The first election normally held in July, immediately after the election of the new Parliament, and a second, is held two and half years later, in January.
Election of the President of the European Parliament: – Statement by Ska KELLER (Greens/EFA,DE)
Candidates are proposed by political groups, but also it can be nominated by a number of Members reaching at least the one-twentieth of Parliament’s Members according to EP rules.
Two women and two men were the candidates for EP Presidents. Ska Keller from Greens, Sira Rego from GUE, David Sassoli from S&D and Jan Zahradil from ECR.
Press conference by David Maria SASSOLI – Newly elected President of the European Parliament
David Sassoli was elected as President of the European Parliament, having won 345 out of 667 valid votes.
David Sassoli was born in Florence on 30 May 1956. As an Italian MEP since 2009, he re-elected in May 2019 for a third term. He will lead Parliament until January 2022.
Plenary session- Election of the President of Parliament – First ballot
In a brief address to the EP in Strasbourg after the vote, President Sassoli thanked parliamentarians for their confidence in him and said: “In these months, too many people have fuelled divisions and conflicts that we thought were a sad reminder of our history. Instead, the citizens have shown that they still believe in this extraordinary path, the only one capable of providing answers to the global challenges before us”
Vasiliki Grammatikogianni Editor-in-Chief
