European Leaders Nave Not Yet Agreed

At the end of the first day of discussions, European leaders did not reach an agreement on the distribution of the EU’s top posts. European heads of state and government have so far failed to reach an agreement on who will occupy key EU posts for the next five years. On Monday, the leaders met for the first time since the elections, which were won by Ursula von der Leyen’s center-right European People’s Party; so formally, the German remains the main contender to head the European Commission. The Social Democrats - Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, who has been recently cleared of corruption charges - are running for the post of European Council chief. The post of chief European diplomat could be taken by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. Charles Michel, President of the European Council: ‘It was a good conversation and goes in the right direction. There was no agreement tonight at this stage. The political parties are playing a role and that is natural in such a political moment. They made proposals, and in the days to come we will work further and prepare the decisions that we need to make’ Shona Murray, Euronews: ‘Although it was too optimistic to expect a breakthrough last night, Ursula von der Leyen remains in pole position, with a good chance of becoming head of the European Commission for the second time. However, negotiations will be tough, especially for her chosen coalition partners, the Greens and the Socialists. They want assurances from von der Leyen that she will remain committed to centrism and not be tempted to lean to the right, towards groups that have increased in size and status.’