German center-left Martin Schulz has been reelected as President of the European Parliament for another two and a half year term during the first session of the newly-elected 751-member assembly.
58-year-old Schulz, who also served as president of the Parliament from 2012 until earlier this year, was re-elected Tuesday with a majority of 409 votes of the 723 ballots cast.
He is the first President in the history of the European Parliament to be re-elected for a second two and a half year term.
In a brief address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg immediately after the vote, Schulz thanked the MEPs for their confidence in him. "It's an extraordinary honour to be the first re-elected President of the European Parliament. I will take my duty very seriously, because we are heart of the European democracy, keeping the task of passing legislation and overseeing its enforcement.’’
Mr Schulz also emphasized that MEPs should "demand that people who trade with the EU should respect rule of law, not rule of the strongest. If the EU protects the people, we will win back their trust, irrespective of their origin or gender. The rule of respect and human dignity should guide everything we do and I know an overwhelming majority will share this view. Let us work and have constructive debate!".
Earlier this year, during an official visit to Israel, Schulz was caught in a controversy over his speech at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, which saw several members of the assembly from the nationalist Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party walking out when the EU leader accused Israel of discriminating against Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria when allocating water resources and when he criticized the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
He later explained: ‘’I could not only say things which would please everyone, my job is to present the position of the European Parliament."
"I was surprised and concerned by the harsh reaction, because I have given a speech that was pro-Israel," Schultz contended.
In a recent interview with the European Jewish Press, he stressed that ‘’occasional constructive criticism of Israel can be perceived as being anti-Israeli. That is not the case. I am a friend of Israel. Friends must be able to be frank with each other.’’
European elections in May saw the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) remaining the largest political group of the European Parliament followed by the Social Democrats (S&D) and the Conservative and Reformists group (ECR).