The ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party on Tuesday decided to support German politician Manfred Weber as the European People's Party (EPP) candidate for the President of the European Commission in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament in May 2019.

The decision for formal support was made during a meeting of the HDZ party presidency and the national council in Zagreb on Tuesday afternoon.

Weber, a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), part of the European People’s Party, recently declared his running for the position of President of the European Commission as EPP’s so-called spitzenkandidat, and has also received the backing of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Following United Kingdom’s departure from the 28-country bloc, the size of the European Parliament is to be reduced to 705 from 751 seats, with Croatia increasing its representation to 12 from 11 MEPs in the current assembly.

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