ZAGREB, October 18, 2019 – European heads of state and government and senior EU officials, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen, outgoing Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk, are expected to attend an election convention of the European People’s Party (EPP) in Zagreb on November 20-21, Jutarnji List daily wrote on Friday.
Over 2,000 delegates from more than 40 countries in which the EPP has members are expected to attend the convention at the Arena Zagreb to choose new leadership: a president, a secretary-general, 10 vice-presidents and a treasurer. The gathering will be hosted by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and its leader, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
Among those attending will be Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, European Parliament President Joseph Daul, leader of the EPP group in the European Parliament Manfred Weber, European commissioners and members of the European Parliament, former European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and EPP heads of state or government from Ireland, Latvia, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands…
The attendance of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is questionable because his party has been suspended from the EPP and has no voting rights, but has been invited to the convention. Also uncertain is the attendance of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, whose Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) is an associate member of the EPP. The SNS does not have a voting right, but has been invited.
Jutarnji List said that the HDZ would not speculate as to who the new EPP leader might be and whether any of its officials might run for a position in the party.
More HDZ news can be found in the Politics section.
