The congress of the European People's Party (EPP), a political formation that, as is well known, boasts the largest membership in the European Parliament, kicks off on March 6 at the Romexpo center in Bucharest. More than 2,000 delegates from 40 countries are gathered under the aegis of the president, the Bavarian Christian Social Manfred Weber. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was present at the meeting; the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola; 15 Heads of State and Government; four Deputy Prime Ministers; eight European Commissioners, as well as the presidents of the EPP member parties.
The People's Party will focus primarily on the preparations and strategy to be followed for the European Parliament elections on 6-9 June, with the vote scheduled for Thursday 7 March of Ursula von der Leyen as the EPP's leading candidate, with a view to a reconfirmation at the helm of the European Commission for the next five years. Another fundamental step is the adoption of an Electoral Manifesto for which Weber outlined some guidelines at the press conference. Significantly, Weber said: "Europe is under pressure at the moment but we want to defend our EU against all nationalisms and extremists, don't vote for extremist parties, vote for this centre and for a stronger Europe." He was echoed by the vice-president of the EPP, Romanian MEP Siegfied Muresan, who said that "the pro-EU parties will continue to lead Europe and have a majority in Parliament", adding that the anti-EU formations: "will be isolated and I think they will split because they themselves cannot find an agreement on some dossiers".
