European Commission president reelected to another five-year term

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday thanked the members of the European Parliament for placing their trust in her for another term. When asked about Europe’s future relationship with the United States during a press conference after her reelection, she told reporters that she aimed to reduce Europe’s dependency on the other countries.

What did she say specifically about the war in Ukraine? European democracy was under attack both at home and from abroad, von der Leyen said. Defending against that aggression would be one of the chief priorities of her administration, she added. She said her ruling coalition would work with anyone who was pro-Europe, pro-Ukraine, and pro-rule-of-law when drafting policies going forward.

What do other countries have to say about this? U.S. President Joe Biden congratulated von der Leyen and said he would look forward to working with her to address global challenges facing both the United States and Europe. Russia’s acting envoy to the European Union Kirill Logvinov on Thursday said that von der Leyen was pushing the European Union to bolster its military might in preparation for a confrontation with Russia, according to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Muncy’s report on The World and Everything in It about how von der Leyen tried to seduce so-called far-right European politicians in her reelection bid.