President Ursula von der Leyen has unveiled her picks for the next European Commission and named Greece’s Margaritis Schinas as Vice President for “Protecting our European way of life.”
President von der Leyen, who will be the first female Commission president, announced the new Commission will have eight Vice-Presidents and will reflect the priorities and ambitions set out in the Political Guidelines.
Schinas, who has served as Chief Spokesman of the European Commission since 2014, will be the first Greek to hold the high-ranking position of vice president.
He was also a member of the European Parliament for Greece's New Democracy party between 2007 and 2009.
Thrilled to be nominated as VP for Protecting our Way of Life covering #migration, #security, #employment, #education. Ready to get down to work & looking forward to discussing with @Europarl_EN about how we can translate our political priorities into real results for Europeans. pic.twitter.com/H4ZMrS2Gz7
— Margaritis Schinas (@MargSchinas) September 10, 2019
“Thrilled to be nominated as VP for Protecting our Way of Life covering migration, security, employment, education. Ready to get down to work & looking forward to discussing with European Parliament about how we can translate our political priorities into real results for Europeans,” Schinas said on his Twitter account.
Cyprus’ Stella Kyriakides was also named Commissioner for Health. Trained as a child psychologist, Kyriakides has been the vice president of the Democratic Rally party since 2013, and is referred to as President Nicos Anastasiades’ “right arm.”
