European socialists elect Nicolas Schmit as lead candidate to face off against Ursula von der Leyen

The Party of European Socialists (PES) has elected Nicolas Schmit as its lead candidate for the EU elections amid worries of a far-right surge.

Transcript

00:00 The center-left party of European socialists has chosen Nikola Schmitt as its candidate

00:06 to go up against Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the elections in June. Schmitt

00:12 is currently European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights and he's vowed to take on

00:16 the far right.

00:18 Do they have a project? Accept they want to destroy Europe? What are their solutions?

00:25 There are none.

00:27 What are the socialist solutions?

00:29 The socialist solutions you have for them, it's very clear. We want a strong Europe.

00:34 We want a united Europe. We want a Europe for a strong economy.

00:39 Polls suggest the center-left will get around 20% of the votes and keep their position as

00:44 the second strongest European party behind the conservative European People's Party.

00:52 If the European Commission's Presidency goes to the center-right, this group will have to

00:57 fight for the Presidency of the European Council, which brings together the leaders of the 27

01:01 member states of the European Union.

01:03 In Rome, Isabel Marques da Silva, Euronews.

01:06 News.