German CSU politician Manfred Weber was on Wednesday re-elected by an overwhelming majority as the Chairman of the European People's Party (EPP) Group in the European Parliament, and Croatian MEP Zeljana Zovko of the HDZ party was elected as one of the ten Vice-Chairpersons.

Weber, who has chaired this largest political group in the European Parliament since 2014, thanked his fellow MEPs for the trust they have placed in him.

“I am profoundly grateful to my colleagues for my re-election as Chairman of the EPP Group. I look forward to continuing our work to strengthen Christian democracy and the center-right throughout Europe. We will fight those who want to damage and destroy our Union. Christian democracy stood at the forefront of the creation of the EU and the EPP is the driving force for a strong and stable Europe that is close to the people,” Weber was quoted as saying.

Today’s elections were the regular mid-term elections of the current legislative period.

Although he was expected to apply for the position of President of the the European Parliament, since the current President David Sassoli’s 2.5-year term expires soon, Weber said last month that he would like to remain at the helm of the EPP club and run for EPP leader.

Zovko of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was elected a Vice-Chairperson. She said that her election was a great acknowledgement of the work of the Croatian HDZ/EPP delegation in the parliament.

The remaining nine Vice-Chairpersons are Esteban Gonzalez Pons (Spain), Siegfried Mureşan (Romania), Jan Olbrycht (Poland), Esther de Lange (the Netherlands),
Rasa Jukneviciene (Lithuania), Arnaud Danjean (France), Evangelos Meimarakis (Greece), Frances Fitzgerald (Ireland) and Paulo Rangel (Portugal).