Green MEP and former Swedish minister Alice Bah Kuhnke will be a candidate next week to succeed Italian David Sassoli for the presidency of the European Parliament, against conservative Maltese Roberta Metsola, poll favorite, her parliamentary group announced on Wednesday .
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We are fighting for a feminist, sustainable and democratic Europe, and call on all MEPs to support these principles
," said Alice Bah Kuhnke, 50, MEP since 2019 and vice-president of the Greens group.
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A television presenter before embracing politics, she was Swedish Minister for Culture and Democracy between 2014 and 2019. She will face Roberta Metsola (EPP, right), Spain's Sira Rego (The Left, radical left) and the Polish Kosma Zlotowski (ECR, Eurosceptics), to take over from the Social Democrat David Sassoli, who died on Tuesday.
The mandate of the latter, President of Parliament since 2019, ended this month, at the half of the five-year legislature.
The election for his succession is scheduled for January 18 in Strasbourg, in plenary session.
Roberta Metsola supported by the EPP
His group, the Social Democrats (S&D), the second political force in the European Parliament, had given up in mid-December to present a candidate, paving the way for Roberta Metsola, supported by the EPP, the first group in the hemicycle. The presentation of the candidate of the Greens is however likely to rally voices of MEPs reluctant to support Roberta Metsola because of her anti-abortion positions.
David Sassoli had been brought to the head of Parliament following an agreement between the leaders of the EPP, S&D and Renew Europe (centrists and liberals) who had pledged to support him and then elect a candidate PPE then.
But, on the strength of recent electoral successes, particularly in Germany, the S&D has been reluctant to give up its place as planned.
S&D and Renew, who are not fielding a candidate, have yet to finalize their position for the January 18 poll.
The two groups continued their discussions on Wednesday with the other political parties and the hearings of the candidates.
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The election of the President of the Parliament is accompanied by a renewal of managerial positions in parliamentary committees and European institutions, fueling tough negotiations between the political groups.
Member of the European Parliament since 2013 and Vice-President of Parliament since 2020, Roberta Metsola recently gained visibility by acting as David Sassoli, removed from the hemicycle in the fall due to pneumonia.
She is the interim president until next week.