PN leader Adrian Delia endorsed Manfred Weber as the lead candidate for the European People’s Party in May’s EU parliamentary election.

The center-right EPP will this week vote at a Helsinki convention to choose its lead candidate. They are widely expected to back Mr Weber, the party’s German leader in the European Parliament, over ex-Finnish premier Alexander Stubb.

Earlier on Monday, the Party of European Socialists said the EU’s deputy chief executive Frans Timmermans will lead the center-left campaign in May’s election,  after fellow commissioner Maros Sefcovic stepped aside.

Mr Sefcovic, who is vice president for energy on the European Commission, said he endorsed Timmermans, the executive’s first vice president, in his bid to succeed Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker next year.

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