PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 17 January 2017
Commenting on today's election of the European People's Party representative Antonio Tajani as new President of the European Parliament, the European Green Party Co-Chairs Reinhard Bütikofer and Monica Frassoni said:
“After five years of being chaired by Socialist Martin Schulz, the European Parliament has now a Christian Democrat as a President: Antonio Tajani, from Italy. We congratulate him on his election and wish him a successful term of office.
“Antonio Tajani was elected by a centre-right coalition. We will take seriously his promise to work in a fair manner for all Members of the European Parliament, and judge him on this basis. In a particularly difficult time, in which increasing dangers hang over the cohesion of the European Union, we believe that the European Parliament needs to regain its central role of defender of the European democratic space.
“For the Greens/EFA Group, the English Member of the European Parliament Jean Lambert was a candidate in the first, second and third rounds of voting and received up to 56 votes. She had called on MEPs: ’The apparent ending of the grand coalition gives an opportunity to demonstrate that we can shift away from electing a usual suspect, and maybe even dare to elect a woman, from a smaller group, and if we are feeling really radical, from the UK’. She would have been a very good President. We thank her for her invigorating candidacy.”
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Eliana Capretti
Head of Communications and Press
EUROPEAN GREEN PARTY aisbl
Rue Wiertz 31
B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
T +32 2 626 07 26
M +32 496 804 027
E eliana.capretti@europeangreens.eu
W www.europeangreens.eu
