<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Belgian politician Charles Michel has announced that he will step down as European Council president after running in the European parliament elections set for June.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The surprise move will heighten speculation about who will be the next EU leaders as negotiations begin for a new round of top jobs in November.</div><div><br></div><div>European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen of Germany, who like Michel was appointed to her post in 2019, has so far kept quiet on whether she intends to seek a second term.</div><div><br></div><div>As Council president, one of Michel’s main tasks has been overseeing EU summits that have become critical to the search for joint responses to crises, including the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.</div><div><br></div><div>“Four years after starting my term as a European leader, it’s my responsibility to give an account of my work these past years, and to propose a project for Europe’s future,” Michel, the 48-year-old former Belgian prime minister, told Belgian media over the weekend.</div><div><br></div><div>He said he would head the list of the liberal Reformist Movement (MR) party, of which he is also a former president, and step down as council president in July.</div><div><br></div><div>“That means I would continue my work as European Council president until being sworn in as an MEP on July 16,” he said.</div><div><br></div><div>A Council meeting is scheduled for just after the parliament elections, and “at this moment it will have to decide when my successor will take up the job,” Michel said.</div><div><br></div><div>The parliament elections set for June 6-9 across the 27 EU members will pick 720 deputies in total and prompt fierce horse-trading for the leadership of European institutions, including EU commissioners and European Council members. - AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>