European Parliament re-elects Roberta Metsola as president

The European Parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly elected Roberta Metsola for another term as its president, with 562 votes in her favour.

The vote to re-elect Metsola for another two-and-a-half years took place in the first sitting of the EU legislature's new term at the parliament's seat in the eastern French city of Strasbourg.

Metsola is the third woman to hold the office. Previous female presidents of the European Parliament include France's Nicole Fontaine and the Holocaust survivor Simone Veil.

EU lawmakers had been expected to back Metsola, a Maltese member of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), after the EPP won 188 seats in the European elections in June.

Metsola was first elected president of the parliament on January 18, 2022 as the successor to the Italian social democrat David Sassoli, who died in office. She has been a member of the parliament since 2013.

Her opponent Irene Montero, put forward by the The Left parliamentary group, only received 61 votes.

In all, 623 votes were cast. Seventy-six ballots were left blank.

Metsola was the first leader of an EU institution to visit Kiev after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. She has repeatedly called on EU countries to send Ukraine more military aid.

The Maltese politician also grappled with the Qatargate scandal that saw former parliament vice president Eva Kaili arrested on suspicion of influence peddling, money laundering, and involvement in a criminal organization.

The scandal that emerged at the end of 2022 involved alleged attempts by Qatar and Morocco to influence political decisions made by the European Parliament. Investigations are still ongoing.

Addressing the parliament ahead of the vote, Metsola said the European Union gave Malta "the chance to dream of a future where our potential is not limited."

In the past term of the parliament, "we have learned that the future is anything but predictable. But come what may, I will keep working with all of you to face the tests when they do come," she said.

The parliament's president chairs sittings of the EU legislature, maintains order during debates, signs laws, and represents the institution internationally.

Metsola's new term comes after European elections characterized by a shift to the right in the European Union and the striking reorganization of far-right groups in the parliament in the aftermath.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán launched a new alliance of far-right parties, bringing together his Fidesz party, the far-right League party, which is part of the Italian government, and France's National Rally (RN), to form the parliament's third-biggest group, the Patriots for Europe.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) also announced the formation of a new right-wing group called the Europe of Sovereign Nations. The group is currently the smallest in the EU legislature, made up of 25 EU lawmakers, 14 of whom are from the AfD.

The parliament is already looking ahead to Thursday when the EU legislators will vote on whether to elect Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as European Commission President.

Von der Leyen needs a majority of 361 votes from the 720-member parliament to be elected. However the vote, on a secret ballot, is set to be tight.