Antonio Tajani new EU Parliament President

strasbourg - Italian Christian Democrat Antonio Tajani (63) is the new President of the European Parliament. The former EU Commissioner and confidant of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi defeated Tuesday in Strasbourg at the fourth and decisive round of voting his rival Gianni Pittella, a Social Democrat, according to several sources, including from the fraction of Tajani, the European People's Party.

Tajani gained the confidence of 351 deputies, Pittella 282. It follows the Social Democrat Martin Schulz on entering the German national politics. Tajani was chosen for the next two and a half years.

The election Tajani now all three top positions of the main EU institutions in the hands of the European People's Party (EPP) united Christian Democrats. Also, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, a Luxembourger, and the Polish president of the European Council, 'EU President' Donald Tusk, belong to the EPP family.