Belgian Prime Minister elected EU President

PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Union has chosen the Belgian Prime Minister, Herman Van Rompuy to become president of the European Council. He is seen as a consensus-builder who would not upstage the leaders of the big powers who call the shots in Europe. He has been described as pragmatic rather than charismatic and was reportedly backed by France and Germany. A Christian Democrat, he was appointed prime minister of Belgium in December 2008, having held the position of president of the lower house of parliament since July 2007. During his time as budget minister in the Christian Democrat-led government, he took a tough stance on balancing the economic books, drastically reducing the country's public debt.



Baroness Catherine Ashton was elected Foreign Affairs Chief. She has been the EU's trade commissioner for little more than a year. Before being sent to Brussels, Baroness Ashton held a number of ministerial posts, steadily rising through the Labor Party ranks. She served in the department of education and the ministry of constitutional affairs before Gordon Brown promoted her to Leader of the Lords when he became prime minister in 2007, BBC reported.