Manfred Weber gets 79% support to be EPP’s lead candidate

The European People’s Party on Thursday chose Manfred Weber as its nominee for Commission president over former Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb.

Weber, the German leader of the EPP grouping in the European Parliament, will be the center-right party’s Spitzenkandidat or “lead candidate” in the European Parliament election to be held in May. The grouping — which is the largest in the Parliament — aims to retain control of the EU’s top post, currently held by Jean-Claude Juncker.

Weber got 492 votes (79 percent of the votes cast), according to results announced by EPP President Joseph Daul.

“We trust you,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told Weber in a speech as delegates cast their votes in a secret ballot.

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