Parliament’s first act after its constitution is to elect its President for the next two-and-a-half years (half the legislature). A candidate must win an absolute majority of the valid votes cast, i.e. 50% plus one. The candidates were Roberta METSOLA, (EPP, MT) and Irene MONTERO (The Left, ES).Roberta METSOLA, President of the outgoing parliament obtains 562 votes of 699 votes cast and gives an acceptance speech.

Strasbourg

plenary session

election of the President of the European Parliament (T)

functioning of the EP (T)

Election of the President of the European Parliament: announcement of the final results and extracts from the speech by Roberta METSOLA, newly elected President of the European Parliament

SOUNDBITE (in Italian), Pina PICIERNO, VP of the outgoing EP, I will now communicate the results of the ballot. The number of people voting 699. Blank or spoilt ballots 76. Votes cast 623. Absolute majority would be 312. The candidates received the following votes. The honourable Metsola, 562 votes. The honourable Montero 61 votes.

SOUNDBITE (in Italian), Pina PICIERNO, Outgoing VP of the EP: Miss METSOLA has received the absolute majority, therefore, of votes cast. President METSOLA, congratulations on your election. I wish you the very best for your term. I would invite you then, please, to take over the chair.

SOUNDBITE (in Maltese), Roberta METSOLA, EP President With humility and honour, I accept this position. Thank you for your, choice. I will work every day to meet your expectations and the expectations of this Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (in English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President I believe that together we are stronger and we are better. I believe that ours is a Europe for all. Ours must be a Europe that remembers, that learns from past struggles and recognises the fight of so many who stood for the ideals we sometimes take for granted.

SOUNDBITE (in English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Ours must be a Europe that Adenauer, Mitterrand, Walesa, Fenech Adami, Havel, Veil, Falcone, Borsellino would all be proud of.

SOUNDBITE (in English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President,We can build the Europe that Simone Weil and Nicole Fontaine dreamt of.

SOUNDBITE (in English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President,The Russian war of aggression against sovereign Ukraine remains at the top of our agenda. I went to Kiev in your name at the outbreak of the war. It was a visit that gave new impetus to our house, new visibility and influence. This house helped put the political spotlight on the need to stand with Ukraine. And that light is one that people rely on us to keep shining as brightly as it can be.

SOUNDBITE (in English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Because in Europe we understand how to kill seemingly impossible divides. That must also be the guiding philosophy of our reaction to the conflicts in the Middle East, where even in the fog of war, ours must continue to be the voice of humanity, pushing for an end to the intergenerational cycle of violence. For a two state solution, a sustainable peace and the return of those hostages still taken.

SOUNDBITE (in English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, It is that defence of our common humanity that means that we are the ones to stand with women horrifically under threat in Afghanistan, with those girls and students on the streets of Iran with Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, those unjustly jailed, and the movement for a free and democratic Belarus, with the brave Yazidi girls still fighting with Yulia Navalny, who stands tall, with all those around the world who keep defying the tear gas running down on them as they fly our European flag high. This is what Europe means across the globe. This is the Parliament that the world sees, the Parliament we are all so proud to serve.

SOUNDBITE (in English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, We can inspire new generations of Europeans because Europe is hope. Europe is belief. Europe is all of us. Europe remains the answer. Vive l'Europe.