Roberta Metsola: Maltese center-right politician Roberta Metsola has been elected as the new president of the European Union’s parliament.

Key Highlights:

• She is only the third woman elected to the post.
• 43 year old Metsola has also become the European Parliament’s youngest president.
• She succeeds Italian Socialist David Sassoli, who died last week.
• Metsola – a member of the largest bloc, the European People’s Party received 458 of the 616 votes.
• She had already been acting president since Sassoli’s Jan. 11 death.
• Many praise the 43-year-old as a bridge-builder while others criticize her anti-abortion stance.

About EU:

• It is an acronym for European Union.
• EU is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe.
• It was founded on 1 November 1993.
• It is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
  • The European Parliament is the EU's lawmaking body, representing the bloc's 450 million citizens.
  • It is directly elected by EU voters every five years.