EU Council President Michel wants to enter parliament and is running for the European elections: “Filming the army of a country at war is suicide.”

EU Council President Charles Michel wants to participate in the upcoming European elections and enter the European Parliament. “I have decided to participate in the European elections in June 2024,” the top politician told several Belgian media on Saturday. This means that if he is elected, he will resign from his position as President of the Council. After the elections – at the end of June and early July – the EU heads of state or government could then discuss a successor to the post of Council President, the Belgian said.

Country leaders would also have to decide when a successor would take office. “It is relatively easy to organize the successor,” he told the newspaper “Le Soir”.

In the elections on June 9, the 48-year-old will lead the list of the liberal Belgian party Mouvement Réformateur (MR), Michel told the newspapers. 2024 is a very important election year in Europe, but also in the rest of the world. “Above all, the European project is at a crossroads and there is a need to strengthen the legitimacy of European democracy.” The former Belgian prime minister said he wanted to play an active role. “I would like to be part of the team of builders of the European project and apply to continue serving it.”

He wanted to conduct the election campaign in such a way that his responsibilities as President of the European Council would not be jeopardized. The task of the President of the EU Council is to coordinate cooperation and summits between EU countries. Michel took over the position in December 2019. He wants to hold the office until the members of the House of Representatives are sworn in, which is scheduled for July 16. (sda/dpa)