European People's Party politicians to discuss Europe's role in world

Leading politicians from the conservative European People's Party (EPP) intend to discuss Europe's role in the changing world order in Croatia on Friday.

The meeting in Zagreb is expected to include German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and EPP Chairman Manfred Weber.

The foreign policy crises at the beginning of the year have shown that Europeans stand alone in a cold world, Weber said in advance of the meeting.

"We need to become faster and speak with one voice," Weber said. "That is why I advocate for combining the roles of the [European] Council and Commission presidents into one, to give Europe a political face."

European parties have the ideological compass to democratically reform Europe, he said. "That is precisely why these reform proposals are on the agenda for the closed-door meeting of my European People's Party."

Currently, the EU is represented at international summits by the duo of the council president and the commission president, and it is sometimes unclear to interlocutors whom to approach for specific matters.

Within the European Union, von der Leyen, as the commission president, is primarily responsible for presenting new legislative proposals and ensuring compliance with European treaties. In contrast, European Council President António Costa mainly chairs and prepares EU summits.