MOSCOW, July 15 (RIA Novosti) – Members of European Parliament approved the nomination of former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker to the post of President of the European Commission Tuesday.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz announced that the nomination was approved by 422 ‘yes’ votes against 250 ‘no’ votes.
Juncker is to succeed incumbent European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, whose term expires in late October.
Speaking in European Parliament Tuesday, Juncker said he expects no EU enlargement in the coming five years.
“Over the next five years, there will be no new member states joining the EU. Today it is hard to imagine that any candidate countries with which we are holding talks will comply with all the criteria for the accession on time. No new candidate country is set to fulfill these criteria by 2019,” Juncker said.
“Other European states need true and fair European prospects. This refers notably the Western Balkans as this part of Europe needs European prospects,” Juncker added.
Currently, there are six countries with EU candidate status: Albania, Iceland, Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Montenegro.
