Reynders’ defeat is a major setback for the Belgian liberal politician, who ran to lead the Council of Europe already in 2019 but lost that race too.
He is expected to return to the European Commission as justice chief until the fall but it’s unclear where he will go next, amid a European Union overhaul for the next Commission mandate.
Reynders previously said he would be interested in remaining at the European Commission if he lost his Council of Europe bid. His French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement party (MR) in Belgium made serious gains in the last national, regional and European elections on June 9.
The winner of the election for secretary general, Berset, was among three candidates who ran for the top job, competing with Reynders and Estonia’s former culture minister Indrek Saar, who is famous in his home country for his role in a long-running soap opera.
Berset is a member of the Social Democrats and served as president of Switzerland in 2018 and again in 2023. He was health and interior minister during the COVID-19 pandemic. He announced he would step down as president in June 2023, adding at the time he had no concrete plans on what was next — except for doing yoga.
Berset is expected to start in September.
The current secretary-general, former Croatian foreign minister Marija Pejčinović Burić, did not stand for a second term.
Source link : https://www.politico.eu/article/new-secretary-general-elected-to-lead-council-of-europe/
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Publish date : 2024-06-25 13:27:07
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