Brussels (Brussels Morning) ” I have big shoes to fill, and I will pay a tribute to my predecessor for always standing up for this house behind me. Europe. Europe is back. Europe is the future. Vive l’Europe,” Roberta Metsola, the European Parliament’s new president told the media in her first speech as president at today’s press conference.
Metsola, a Maltese MEP known for her anti-abortion views, has been elected to succeed David Sassoli as the president of the European Parliament, becoming the third woman to occupy the high-ranking position.
At the press conference, she stated that her position on abortion will be the same as the European Parliament’s because she now speaks from a different position as previously is known to the public.
Metsola, a member of the center-wing European People’s Party (EPP), was among four candidates for the position, alongside Spain’s Sira Rego (radical left), Poland’s Kosma Zlotowski (ECR, Eurosceptics), and Sweden’s Alice Bah Kuhnke (Greens).
Metsola pitched herself as a young yet experienced female leader, claiming she could inspire
and build consensus across Europe’s political divides. She was elected today with 458 votes in
favor out of the 705 MEPs in the EP.
Her appointment marks an important victory for Malta, the smallest EU country in terms of population, territory, and gross domestic product (GDP). Metsola is now the highest-ranking Maltese national in the bloc’s history.
