Roberta Metsola was overwhelmingly re-elected for a second stint as president of the European Parliament on July 16, beating off an 11th-hour challenge from Spanish MEP Irene Montero, Report informs referring to Times of Malta.
Metsola won 562 votes of the 623 votes cast. Her rival got 61. The remaining votes were invalid. It was the strongest vote ever for an EP president, observers said.
The result was greeted with rapturous applause.
Metsola said she accepted the appointment with humility and promised to work every day to meet the expectations of the people and make Europe accessible to all and a better place.
She paid tribute to all those who had helped create and shape the European Union and its democratic principles and standards including rule of law and equality, mentioning among them Eddie Fenech Adami.
She underlined the importance of the EU having strategic independence, stability, global competitiveness and stability and said the EU also needed to give real solutions on climate change.
The Maltese MEP was nominated by the European People’s Party, the biggest group in the parliament, and appears to have won support from several other groups.