Roberta Metsola, a 43-year-old Maltese politician was elected president of the European Parliament. This makes Metsola the youngest person to hold the position. She succeeds former EU Parliament president David Sassolli, who died last week. She is also the third woman to be elected president of the EU parliament.
"I know that having the first female president of this house since 1999 matters both inside and outside these rooms, but it must go further. Our institution commits to having more diversity, gender equality, guaranteeing women's rights, all our rights must be reaffirmed,” she told AP.
Metsola is known to be anti-abortion but pro-LGBT. Metsola is the first politician from Malta to hold such a high position in the EU. Malta, a predominantly Catholic state, is the only EU nation to have a complete ban on abortion.
She joins ranks with two women in high positions in the EU- Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank.
A lawyer by training, her previous jobs have included acting as legal adviser to British politician Baroness Ashton, who was then the EU's top diplomat, a BBC report reads.
