Manfred Weber
Manfred Weber is a German politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria, who has served as a member of the European Parliament since 2009. He led the European People's Party (EPP) group in the Parliament, the chamber's largest centre-right formation, for several years. Weber was the EPP's lead candidate — its Spitzenkandidat — for President of the European Commission ahead of the 2019 European elections. He is a prominent figure in European centre-right politics and a frequent spokesman on EU institutional matters.
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Von der Leyen proposes European Security Council and EU emergency response mechanism in State of the Union address
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her annual State of the European Union address in Strasbourg on 16 September to propose a new European Security Council with like-minded partners including Ukraine, and an Emergency Security Protocol modelled on NATO's Article 4. She framed the proposals as a response to escalating Russian hybrid activity on EU territory and to strains in the transatlantic relationship.