Austrian Ex-Chancellor Kern To Run In EU Parliament Election

VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th September, 2018) Christian Kern, Austria's opposition leader and ex-chancellor, has announced his plans to run as main candidate for the Austrian Social Democrats (SPO) in the European Parliament elections in 2019.

"I decided to participate in these European elections as the SPO main candidate and I will concentrate all my attention on this. In this regard, I consider leaving the post of the party's chairman by latest after the European elections," Kern said at a press conference.

Kern became the SPO head in 2016 and served as the Austrian chancellor from May 2016 to December 2017.

According to the regulations of the European Parliament on the "main candidate," a top candidate picked by the pan-European political groups automatically becomes a candidate to head the EU Parliament. Candidates from parties must independently nominate their candidatures no later than 12 weeks before the elections to the EU Parliament.

The current mandates of the European Commission, the European Council, as well as of EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi expire in 2019.