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Details Published on Sunday, 31 August 2014 06:15 Xinhua Hits: 209 Privacy Policy

The European Union (EU) leaders during a summit on Saturday elected Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk as president of the European Council, and appointed Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini as the EU's foreign policy chief.

"The European Council decided today to elect Donald Tusk as President of the European Council, and to appoint Federica Mogherini as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy," a European Council statement said.

Donald Tusk, the center-right Polish Prime Minister will be the second president of the European council. His election reflected a strong desire by EU's eastern countries to finally hold a senior position in the Union.

The European Council President is the person who chairs EU leaders summits and mediates between the 28 governments. According to the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the European Council shall elect its President by a qualified majority for a period of two and a half years, renewable once.

"The President of the European Council is elected for the period from 1 December 2014 until 31 May 2017," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Tusk was also appointed President of the Euro Summit, for the same period. Described by the media as "a leading EU hawk on the Kremlin and the crisis in Ukraine", Tusk has clear favorites by the EU leaders amid the upheaval in Ukraine.

Herman Van Rompuy, the current holder of the position, praised Tusk as "a statesman for Europe" at a press conference after the election.

"He has impressed his colleagues and the outside world with the determined and confident way he has led his country and steered Poland through the economic crisis, managing to maintain steady economic growth and never fall into recession," Van Rompuy said.

Van Rompuy said there are three challenges that the EU will be facing in the years ahead: the stagnating economy, Ukraine and Russia, and Britain's place in the Union.

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Polish PM elected European Council president, Italy's Mogherini to head diplomacy

BRUSSELS European Union leaders on Saturday picked Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini to become the 28-nation bloc's top diplomat for the next five years.

The decision comes as the crisis at the EU's eastern border pitting Ukraine against Russia poses one of the biggest foreign policy challenges for the bloc in decades.

"Federica Mogherini will be the new face of the European Union in our day-to-day dealings with our partners in the world," outgoing EU summit chairman Herman Van Rompuy said. Incumbent EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, whose term ends in October, has been a frequent interlocutor for U.S. secretaries of state and chairs the negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

Mogherini, a 41-year-old center-left politician, has been Italy's foreign minister only since February, drawing criticism that she lacks experience. A first attempt to secure Mogherini's nomination in June failed amid resistance from eastern European leaders.

Addressing the criticism, Mogherini said she will draw on her experience as foreign minister of a Group of Seven country and her experience as lawmaker.

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Italian picked for key EU position

European Union leaders picked Italys top diplomat to become the 28-nation blocs new foreign policy chief for the next five years.

EU summit chairman Herman Van Rompuy said Saturday in a Twitter message leaders chose Federica Mogherini to succeed incumbent Catherine Ashton in November.

The decision comes as the crisis at the EUs eastern border pitting Ukraine against Russia poses one of the biggest foreign policy challenges for the bloc in decades.

Mogherini will be the new face of the European Union in our day-today dealings with our partners in the world, outgoing European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said.

Mogherini, a 41-year-old centre-left politician, has been Italys foreign minister only since February, drawing criticism that she lacks experience. A first attempt to secure Mogherinis nomination in June failed amid resistance from eastern European leaders.

The highly visible job as EU foreign policy chief entails flying across the world and hobnobbing with the great and powerful to deal with anything from the fighting in eastern Ukraine to the crises in the Middle East. However, the EUs top diplomat often has had little leeway because the blocs member nations jealously guarded foreign policy as a national matter, leaving the foreign policy chief the role to hammer out compromise positions.

Mogherini said she will work relentlessly to promote European projects on the international stage, while fighting off crises or seeds of discord that could undermine the blocs success.

We are a dream come true, having to be careful that the dream doesnt turn into a nightmare, she said.

The EU leaders also elected Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to succeed European Council President Herman Van Rompuy in December as EU summit chairman and behind-the-scenes broker of compromises among national leaders.

The 57-year-old Tusk, a historian and talented speaker, has led Polands centre-right coalition government since 2007, overseeing continuous economic growth.

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EU leaders pick Italys top diplomat as blocs foreign policy chief

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