BRATISLAVA, Sept.17 (Xinhua) -- European Commission (EC) Vice President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic from Slovakia confirmed on Monday that he will run for the Party of European Socialist (PES) candidate for European Commission president in the 2019 European Parliament election.
He has received the backing of socialists from Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
PES is due to decide on its election leader at a convention in Latvia next month, while the party should make a public announcement regarding its choice in early December.
Sefcovic pointed out that EU's unity will be his key priority, stressing that the EU should feature more prominently representatives of central and eastern Europe and make efforts to speed up the process of reducing differences in living standards between western and eastern EU members.
"If living standards were more even, it would really mitigate the many difficult debates we've had recently," stressed Sefcovic.
The Slovak commissioner, who's been in the EU's executive for about a decade, said that he wants to see "this century as European". While Europe must serve as an example for others, it must bolster its autonomy because "we can't rely on anyone else". The EU should become more autonomous especially in developing key technologies as part of the fourth industrial revolution, global industrial and trade policies, said he.
"At the same time the EU must remain the strongest advocate of democratic values, freedom, justice and fairness. We must fight discrimination, and strive to remove poverty from Europe and the developing world. We must also play a leading role in global climate measures in order to protect the planet and our children," added Sefcovic.
