On 18 January Roberta Metsola has been elected as the new President of the European Parliament with an absolute majority of 458 votes out of the 705 MEPs in Parliament.
Metsola, a member of the EPP Group from Malta, was among four candidates for the position, alongside Spain’s Sira Rego (Left group in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL), Poland’s Kosma Złotowski (European Conservatives and Reformists Group) and Sweden’s Alice Bah Kuhnke (Group of the Greens / European Free Alliance).
Metsola has been a MEP since 2013 and a Vice-President of the European Parliament since 2020.
“We congratulate President Metsola for her new role. Today she receives an important legacy from former President Sassoli. Furthermore, she will lead the European Parliament, the only EU institutions directly elected by citizens, in a critical period as we emerge from a devastating pandemic.”, Jacques Vandenschrik, President of European Food Banks Federation. “We send her our best wishes to carry on President Sassoli’s work. As European Food Banks Federation we ensure our support by continuing our daily activity which contributes to aid the most vulnerable in the EU whilst preventing that good food becomes waste.”
Read more here.
On this day we also we want to remember President Sassoli with the words he addressed in his Christmas video-message entitled “No one is safe, alone. The only answer is solidarity”.
“[…] Poverty should not be hidden, but rather tackled and wiped out. […] The EU institutions must protect the most vulnerable and not add to their pain by expecting more sacrifices.”
European Food Banks have lost a good European and, above all, a good friend. Watch the full video below.
