EPP - European People's Party
The EPP is centre-right, pro-European political party which gathers over 82 parties from 43 countries.
EPP - European People's Party
Heads of state and government

Lithuania

Independent

Ingrida Šimonytė (born 15 November 1974) is a Lithuanian politician and economist who is the current Prime Minister-designate of Lithuania, expected to take office in November 2020. She will be the second woman to hold the office, following Kazimira Prunskienė. Šimonytė has additionally served as a member of the Seimas for the Antakalnis constituency since 2016, and was minister of finance in the second Kubilius cabinet from 2009 until 2012. She was a candidate in the 2019 presidential election. Šimonytė is an independent politician, although she has been affiliated with the Homeland Union.

Born in Vilnius, Šimonytė graduated from Vilnius University with a degree in business in 1996, later receiving a master's degree as well in 1998. She began her career as an economist and public servant, working as chief of the tax division within the Ministry of Finance until 2004. She remained within the ministry's tax division until being nominated to serve as finance minister in 2009, tasked with stimulating the Lithuanian economy in the aftermath of the Great Recession. She resigned from the position in 2012, and afterwards was appointed deputy chairperson of the board of the Bank of Lithuania, while also becoming a professor of economics at the Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science, and of public finance at ISM University of Management and Economics.

Šimonytė returned to politics in 2016, when she ran as an independent candidate in the 2016 parliamentary election to represent Antakalnis constituency in Vilnius, ultimately winning a seat in parliament. In 2018, Šimonytė announced her campaign in the 2019 presidential election, and won the nomination of the political party Homeland Union. She narrowly won the first round of the election on 12 May 2019, before placing second behind Gitanas Nausėda in the run-off on 26 May.

Heads of state and government

Ireland

FG

Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael since 2024. A TD for the Wicklow constituency since 2011, he has served as a minister in the government of Ireland since 2016 and formerly served as a minister of state from 2014 to 2016.

Born in Greystones, County Wicklow, Harris first became involved in politics during his teenage years. He was elected to Wicklow County Council in the 2009 local elections and then elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 general election. He was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Finance in 2014. Following the formation of a Fine Gael minority government in May 2016, he was appointed Minister for Health. On the formation of the coalition government in June 2020, he was appointed Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

Harris was elected leader of Fine Gael on 24 March 2024 and appointed Taoiseach on 9 April. At age 37, he became the youngest Taoiseach in the history of the state.

Heads of state and government

Cyprus

Independent

Nikos Christodoulides was born on 6 December 1973 in Paphos.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Economics, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies from the City University of New York, Queens College, and a Master’s degree in Political Science from New York University. He holds a doctorate from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens.

He was a career diplomat between 1999 and 2018. During this time, he served, inter alia, as Consul General at the High Commission of the Republic of Cyprus in the United Kingdom, as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Cyprus in Greece and as Spokesperson of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU at the Permanent Mission of Cyprus in Brussels.

He also served as Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President of the Republic of Cyprus (2013-2018) and as Government Spokesman (2014-2018). On 1st March 2018 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, a position which he held until his resignation on 11 January 2022.

Between 2007 and 2010 he was a Lecturer and Research Associate at the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Cyprus in the subject of History of the Postwar World. He is the author of the books Plans for Solution of the Cyprus Problem 1948-1978 (2009), Relations between Athens and Nicosia and the Cyprus Problem, 1977-1988 (2013), and Geopolitical Realities in the Plans for Solution of the Cyprus Problem 1948-1978 (2021).

On February 12, 2023, he won the Presidential Elections with a percentage of 51.97% and assumed his duties as the 8th President of the Republic of Cyprus.

Heads of state and government

Poland

PO

Donald Tusk was born on 22 April 1957 in Gdańsk, Poland. His father worked as a carpenter on the railway, his mother as a secretary at a hospital. When Tusk was 14 years old, his father died.

In 1976 he started studying history at Gdańsk University, where he became involved in illegal activities against the Communist regime. At the time he cooperated inter alia with the underground Free Trade Unions and met the future Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa. In 1980 Donald Tusk founded an Independent Students' Association, NZS, which was part of the 'Solidarity' movement. He became the leader of 'Solidarity' at his place of work and a journalist on a newspaper published by 'Solidarity'.

After martial law was imposed in December 1981 by General Jaruzelski, he remained in hiding for some time. He then worked as a bread seller and later, between 1984 and 1989, he earned his living as a manual labourer specialising in work at high altitudes with the aid of climbing equipment. At the same time he was an activist in the underground Solidarity movement. After being arrested for a short time, he was set free following an amnesty for political prisoners announced by General Jaruzelski. In 1983, Donald Tusk founded an illegal monthly 'Political Review', propagating economic liberalism and rules of liberal democracy. An informal think-tank supporting Lech Wałęsa was centred around the periodical. After the collapse of communism, think-tank members known as 'Gdańsk liberals' formed a government after the first free presidential elections in Poland.

Simultaneously they founded the first pro-business and pro-Europe party in Poland, the Liberal Democratic Congress, with Donald Tusk as its leader. He was also responsible for de-monopolising and privatising the former communist state-owned press concern. In the 1990s, Donald Tusk was a Member of Parliament, inter alia deputy Speaker of the Senate. In the same years he published a series of books on the history of Gdańsk, some of which turned out to be bestsellers. In 2001, Donald Tusk was one of the initiators of the new centrist party called the Civic Platform and in 2003 he became its leader.

In 2007, after a tough campaign he defeated the ruling rightist party and became Prime Minister. He was in office for seven years, which made him the longest-serving Prime Minister in democratic Poland, and the first one to be re-elected. During his seven-year term, Poland continued to maintain economic growth, and in the time of crisis the Polish economy grew by almost 20%, a record performance in Europe. In 2014, Donald Tusk was elected to the position of President of the European Council and in 2017 re-elected for the second mandate of 2.5 years. His term ended on 30 November 2019.

In December 2019, he published a diary “Szczerze”, based on his five-year-term as President of the European Council, which became a bestseller in Poland. On December 2019, Donald Tusk assumed office of the President of the European People’s Party, and he stayed in office until May 2022. Since October 24, 2021 he is the Chairman of the Civic Platform (PO).

In December 2021, a book on contemporary politics “Wybór” was published, written by Donald Tusk and a Pulitzer-winning author Anne Applebaum.

Heads of state and government

Switzerland

CVP

Viola Amherd, born June 7, 1962 in Brig-Glis, is a Swiss politician, member of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC). She has served as one of the seven members of the Swiss Federal Council since 1 January 2019. She is head of the Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sports.

She began her political life as a member of the City Council of Brig-Glis in 1992 and became Vice-President in 1996 and President in 2000. From 1994 till 2006, she was also a part-time judge of the Federal Appeals Board.

National Councilor since May 31, 2005 where she succeeded Jean-Michel Cina, she was a member of the steering Committee and the Presidential Committee of the PDC of Upper Valais.

On 24 October 2018, following the withdrawal of Doris Leuthard, Amherd announced her candidacy to succeed her to the Federal Council. On 5 December, she was elected by the Federal Assembly with 148 votes out of 240 in the first round, becoming the first female representative of the canton Valais to be elected to the Federal Council.

Deputy prime ministers and ministers

Bulgaria

GERB

Mariya Gabriel is a Vice-President of the European People's Party.

She is serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria and Minister of Foreign Affairs since June 2023.

Mariya Gabriel served as European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth. For her productive work as Commissioner, Mariya Gabriel has been honoured with numerous awards. Among them is the award “Women of Influence 2018” in the category “Talent in Politics”, the most prestigious Italian prize “Golden Apple” for highest achievements for women, the Beaumarchais Medal for her contribution in the protection of the interests of European artists.

Since 2012 Mariya Gabriel has been Vice-President of EPP Women.

In May 2009 she has been elected as Member of the European Parliament from the list GERB/EPP. She has been re-elected as Member of the European Parliament in 2014 and became head of the Bulgarian delegation of GERB in the EPP Group. From 2014 to 2017 she was Vice-President of the EPP Group in the European Parliament. She was responsible for the EU’s external policy in the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean. Mariya Gabriel has been two times elected Member of the European Parliament of the year: in 2016 in the category “Development” and in 2013 in the category “Gender equality”.

Leaders of the opposition and party leaders

Germany

CDU

Friedrich Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German lawyer and politician. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1989 to 1994 and as a member of the Bundestag from 1994 until 2009, where he chaired the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from 2000 to 2002. He returned to the Bundestag in 2021.

Merz joined the CDU's youth wing in 1972 and is reputed to be a member of the Andean Pact, a powerful network formed by members of the CDU youth wing in 1979 during a trip to the Andes. After finishing law school in 1985, he worked as a judge and corporate lawyer before entering full-time politics in 1989 when he was elected to the European Parliament. After serving one term he was elected to the Bundestag, where he established himself as the leading financial policy expert in the CDU.

Friedrich Merz has been elected the new Chairman of CDU in December 2021, and took official function in January 2022, following the party Congress that ratified the election.

Leaders of the opposition and party leaders

Bulgaria

GERB

Boyko Borissov (born 13 June 1959) is the leader of GERB since January 2010. He served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria since 2017 until May 2021.

From 1985 to 1990 he worked as a lecturer at the Higher Institute for Police Officers Training and Scientific Research of the Ministry of Interior. He received a PhD for his dissertation thesis "Psycho-Physical Training of the Operational Staff".

On 1 September 2001 he was appointed Secretary General of the Interior Ministry by Decree 194/2001 of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria. He was promoted to 'Colonel' pursuant to an ordinance of the Minister of Interior and was awarded the rank of 'Major General' by Decree 32/2002 of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria.

On November 10 2005 he was elected Mayor Bulgaria’s Capital City Sofia by virtue of a Sofia Municipal Council Decision. From May 2013 until July 2014, he served as a Member of Parliament in the GERB Parliamentary Group in the 42nd National Assembly.

He served as Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria from 27 July 2009 to 21 February 2013 and from 7 November 2014 to 27 January 2017. Then since May 2017 until May 2021.

Germany

CDU

Ursula von der Leyen (born 8 October 1958) is the President of the European Commission and as such, an ex officio Vice-President of the EPP.

Von der Leyen served in the federal government of Germany from 2005 to 2019 as the longest-serving member of Angela Merkel's cabinet.

She was born and raised in Brussels, where her father Ernst Albrecht was one of the first European civil servants. She was brought up bilingually in German and French, and is of German and British American descent. She moved to Hanover in 1971, when her father entered politics to become Minister President of the state of Lower Saxony in 1976. As an economics student at the London School of Economics in the late 1970s, she lived under the name Rose Ladson, the family name of her American great-grandmother from Charleston, South Carolina. After graduating as a physician from the Hanover Medical School in 1987, she specialized in women's health. In 1986 she married fellow physician Heiko von der Leyen of the noble von der Leyen family of silk merchants. As a mother of seven children, she was a housewife during parts of the 1990s and lived for four years in Stanford, California, while her husband was on faculty at Stanford University, returning to Germany in 1996.

In the late 1990s, she became involved in local politics in the Hanover region, and she served as a cabinet minister in the state government of Lower Saxony from 2003 to 2005. In 2005, she joined the federal cabinet, first as Minister of Family Affairs and Youth from 2005 to 2009, then as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 2009 to 2013, and finally as Minister of Defence from 2013 to 2019, the first woman to serve as German defence minister. When she left office she was the only minister to have served continuously in Angela Merkel's cabinet since Merkel became Chancellor. She has been deputy leader of the CDU since 2010.

von der Leyen is the first woman to become President of the European Commission.

Poland

PO

Olgierd Geblewicz (born 15 October 1972 in Goleniów) is the President of the EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions and the marshal of the West Pomeranian voivodeship (from 2010). In the years 2008–2010 he was a chairman of the West Pomeranian Regional Assembly.

On 2 December 2008 Geblewicz became a chairman of the West Pomeranian Regional Assembly (he obtained 16 of 30 votes).He has replaced Michał Łuczak, who resigned on the prosecution's charge of possession of a small amount of drugs. In the 2010 local elections, he was reelected to the Regional Assembly (obtaining 10 721 votes). On November 29, 2010 he was appointed marshal by 21 voivodship councilors. He began his office on December 7 of the same year. From 2010 to 2011 he was a president of Baltic Sea States Subregional Co-operation (BSSSC). Also in 2010, he became a member of the National Council of the Civic Platform.

In 2011 he became a member of the EU Committee of the Regions. In 2013 he became the president of the Szczecin Civic Platform section. In 2014 he was reelected to the regional council, on December 1 of the same year he was reelected for the office of Marshal of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship for the second time. On 4 March 2016 he became the president of the Association of Voivodships. In 2018, he retained the mandate of a regional councilor for another term, this time he obtained 42 494 votes (23.14%). On November 23, 2018, he was once again appointed the marshal of the voivodeship.

In January 2020, he was elected chairman of the European People's Party faction in the Committee of the Regions. In regional assembly he is a member of Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Committee on Budget and Local Government Affairs, Committee on Health, Social Affairs and Public Safety, The Temporary Commission for Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation and the Temporary Commission for the Honorary Badge of the West Pomeranian Griffin.