Centre-right EPP backs Von der Leyen for new mandate as European Commission president

The European People's Party (EPP), the pan-European centre-right umbrella group, will support European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her bid to run for a second five-year term running the EU's executive body, Manfred Weber, the head of EPP group in the European Parliament, said on Wednesday.

Von der Leyen thanked Weber for the support and said that if she won a second mandate, one of her key priorities would be to defend European democracies. "That is the task I am looking forward to," she said at a joint pres conference with Weber.

On Monday, Von der Leyen won backing from German conservatives for a second term.