The European Union’s top negotiators agreed on Tuesday to appoint former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa to the presidency of the European Council. The preliminary agreement between the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (SD) and the Renew Europe liberals secures a second term for Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission and hands over the head of community diplomacy to Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia. Proposals for the appointment will be presented to European leaders tomorrow in Brussels. The deadlock in the negotiations has persisted since the last informal summit, at which the PES even proposed to the SD to distribute mandates for the presidency of the European Council for the next five years. Despite doubts from some European governments about the court case involving the former prime minister and even about their position on the conflict in Ukraine, the Socialists insisted on the appointment of Antonio Costa. The consensus on the distribution of top jobs excludes the conservatives and reformists led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, but with recent comings and goings, the group has become the third largest group in the European Parliament and oversees several portfolios. the next European Commission. ‘Joy’ and ‘satisfaction’ over agreement to appoint former prime minister