Latvian members of parliament were meeting on Wednesday to elect a new president for the Baltic country.

Three politicians are in the running to succeed outgoing President Raimonds Vejonis. The candidate with the best odds is Egils Levits, a 63-year-old judge at the European Court of Justice who was nominated by the coalition government.

An absolute majority of 51 votes out of 100 lawmakers in the Saeima parliament is required for the largely ceremonial job as head of state.

If no candidates meet that threshold, the vote will go to a second round.

Following a recent change to the constitution, the president will be elected in an open vote, instead of a secret ballot. </s> Latvia’s parliament has elected former European Court of Justice judge Egils Levits as the next president on Wednesday, a role that brings with it limited political powers.

Levits won the support of 61 lawmakers in the 100-seat parliament of the Baltic country, Reuters said. He will serve four years starting on July 8, when incumbent president Raimonds Vejonis’ term comes to an end.

The president of Latvia performs mostly ceremonial functions but can propose new bills and can nominate candidates for prime minister.

The president is appointed through a parliamentary vote rather than by popular election. </s> Latvian newly elected President Egils Levits speaks at front of the Parliament in Riga, Latvia May 29, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

RIGA (Reuters) - Latvia’s parliament elected former European Court of Justice judge Egils Levits as the Baltic country’s next president on Wednesday, a largely ceremonial role that also brings with it limited political powers.

Levits won the support of 61 lawmakers in the 100-seated parliament. He will serve four years starting on July 8, when incumbent president Raimonds Vejonis’ term comes to an end.

The president of Latvia has mostly ceremonial functions but can propose new bills and nominate candidates for prime minister. The president is appointed through the parliament votes rather than popular elections. </s> HELSINKI (AP) - Latvian lawmakers have elected Egils Levits, a judge with the European Court of Justice, to become the Baltic nation's head of state. Incumbent Raimonds Vejonis declined to seek another four-year term in office.

Latvia's 100-seat legislature, the Saeima, elected Levits, a 63-year-old lawyer and political scientist educated in Germany, on Wednesday.

The clear favorite, Levits received 61 votes already in the first round of voting, well above the 51 needed to win the election.

Two other candidates, lawmaker Didzis Smits and human rights ombudsman Juris Jansons, were also in the running.

The president is Latvia's formal figurehead, representing the European Union country of 1.9 million abroad and acting as the supreme commander of the armed forces in this small NATO nation neighboring Russia. </s> RIGA, May 29 (Reuters) - Latvia's parliament elected former European Court of Justice judge Egils Levits as the Baltic country's next president on Wednesday, a largely ceremonial role that also brings with it limited political powers.

Levits won the support of 61 lawmakers in the 100-seated parliament. He will serve four years starting on July 8, when incumbent president Raimonds Vejonis' term comes to an end.

The president of Latvia has mostly ceremonial functions but can propose new bills and nominate candidates for prime minister. The president is appointed through the parliament votes rather than popular elections. (Reporting by Gederts Gelzis, writing by Johan Ahlander; editing by Niklas Pollard) </s> HELSINKI — Latvian lawmakers on Wednesday elected former dissident Egils Levits, a judge with the European Court of Justice, as the Baltic nation’s new president.

Levits, a 63-year-old lawyer and political scientist educated at the University of Hamburg, received 61 votes in the Saeima, Latvia’s 100-seat legislature, well above the 51 votes needed to win the election.

Incumbent Raimonds Vejonis declined to seek another four-year term in office.

Two other candidates, lawmaker Didzis Smits and human rights ombudsman Juris Jansons, were also in the running.

The president is Latvia’s formal figurehead, representing the European Union country of 1.9 million abroad and acting as the supreme commander of the armed forces in this small NATO nation neighbouring Russia. The head of state also signs bills into laws, ratifies treaties, appoints the prime minister and has the right to dissolve the parliament.

Levits, a member of the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice since 2004, is a former Soviet-era dissident who was a key figure in Latvia’s independence movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was also a judge at the European Court of Human Rights.

Addressing the Parliament in Riga, the Latvian capital, Levits pledged to be “the president of all people — those living in Latvia, those living abroad, the poor, the rich, the marginalized, as well as those living good lives.”

Tens of thousands of mostly young Latvians have left since the country’s 2004 EU membership, leading to a continuously shrinking population and a shortage of skilled workers, among other issues.

Levits, who will assume office in July, said Latvia should actively try to attract people to return. </s> Michele Nicoletti from Italy elected new PACE President

President

Michele Nicoletti (Italy, SOC) was today elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

Taking over from Stella Kyriakides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), he is the 31st President of the Assembly since 1949 and the second Italian to hold this office.

There was only one candidate. Under the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, the President serves for a one-year term of office, which may be renewed once.

In his inaugural address, the newly-elected President called for increased unity of the Council of Europe “as the only European institution that brings together 47 countries around the values of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and acceptance of its European Court”.

“At a time of great and dramatic challenges – from terrorism to migration, from poverty old and new to mistrust in representative institutions, from the re-emergence of racism and xenophobia to the desperate solitude of so many people – we must offer a response to nationalist and chauvinistic temptations to close ranks, to centrifugal pressures and to conflicts by reasserting the need for peace and justice on our continent,” he said.

” As a pan-European political forum and a statutory body of our Organisation, the Assembly should fully play its role in addressing these challenges. This requires the active involvement of all members and delegations from all 47 member States. In this context, I regret that the Russian Parliament has not put forward a delegation for the 2018 Ordinary Session. Nevertheless, dialogue with Russian parliamentarians – as well as with all other delegations – continues, with due respect to our rules and obligations.”

“This reflection on our identity, which the Assembly will decide how to develop, appears to me to represent an extraordinary opportunity for our institution to reassert forcefully its own role as the guardian of European unity. I strongly believe that all member States of the Council of Europe must participate in this process,” the newly-elected PACE President underlined.

“In performing this task, we must not cease to openly denounce any violation of human rights committed in any part of our continent and by any authority. There cannot and must not be any free zones. However, this defence of human rights will be even stronger if we are able to combine it with an ever increasing unity between our peoples. We must tirelessly seek to emphasise what unites us,” he said. </s> STRASBOURG: The European Parliament on Tuesday confirmed Ursula von der Leyen, a German conservative, as the next president of the executive EU Commission by 383 votes to 327 against, the speaker of the assembly, David Sassoli, said.

Von der Leyen, a close ally of German Chancellor Angela Markel, needed a minimum 374 votes to be confirmed. There were 22 abstentions and one blank vote, he added. </s> David-Maria Sassoli, an Italian politician from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats has been elected the European Parliament President.

​In the first round of voting, Sassoli received 325 votes. Jan Zahradil, a Czech politician from the European Conservatives and Reformists, received 162 votes. Ska Keller, a German politician of the Greens, secured 133 votes. Spaniard Sira Rego of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left garnered 42 votes.

Sassoli secured 345 votes in the second ballot. The absolute majority required is 334 votes.

A day earlier, EU leaders announced their picks to head key EU institutions after days of wrangling.

The European Council chose German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen as a candidate for president of the European Commission. She will need the backing of a majority at the European Parliament to head the commission.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel was named the new president of the European Council.

Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund was submitted as a candidate for president of the European Central Bank (ECB). Her nomination needs support from the European Parliament and the ECB's Governing Council.

Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borell is considered as a candidate for High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. He will be confirmed by the Commission's president-elect.​
Egils Levits, a Judge of the European Court of Justice, is elected President by the Saeima.