Ursula von der Leyen has quickly emerged as the favorite for the European Union’s top job, after the bloc’s parliamentary elections offered her a pathway to securing a second term as president of the European Commission.
The party alliances that supported her last term have won a majority in this year’s elections — although some members of that coalition may defect, the Financial Times reported. That could leave von der Leyen dependent on winning over the hard-right or the Greens, but some current members of her coalition have warned her not to.
For her part, von der Leyen vowed to reach out to the “big political families” to build a majority for a “strong and effective Europe.”