Martin Schulz Re-elected as European Parliament President

The European Parliament has re-elected Martin Schulz for a second presidential term, with 409 votes from the 751 MEPs.

Besides the Socialist S&D bloc, the European People’s Party (EPP) also backed Schulz in Tuesday’s vote at the first plenary session in Strasbourg. In return, the Socialists backed EPP’s Jean-Claude Juncker for the top post in the European Commission.

The other contenders, British Conservative Sajjad Karim came second with 101 votes, while Spain’s leftist Pablo Iglesias and Austria’s Green MEP Ulrike Lunacek both received 51 votes.

"I would like to thank you for the trust that you have invested in me. It's an extraordinary honour. I do have a particular duty and I take it very seriously”, Schulz said upon his re-election.

Schulz’s S&D has 191 deputies in the new European Parliament, while the EPP has 221. The 58-year old German, who was also running for EC President, will begin a new 2.5 year term in the Parliament.

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