The Croatian Prime Minister, Andrej Plenković, congratulated Ursula von der Leyen, who received the support of the European Parliament on Thursday for a second term as President of the European Commission.

"Congratulations to Ursula von der Leyen, this was an expected decision for me," said Plenković, who participated in the European Political Community summit at Blenheim Palace, near Oxford, on Thursday.

The European Parliament confirmed Ursula von der Leyen's election as President of the European Commission for the next five years with 401 votes in a secret ballot at the plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday. There were 284 votes against her, and 22 ballots were invalid. The Parliament currently has 719 members, so the required majority was 360 votes.

"That is an excellent majority, but there were also many votes against, which shows the polarization in the newly elected composition of the European Parliament," said Plenković.

Plenković reminded that his party, HDZ, firmly supported Ursula von der Leyen, that in the European elections they won six out of 12 Croatian parliamentary seats, and all gave her their vote for the second term. He said she visited Croatia twice in one year, in Split, which is "a big and important message."

"She came to support us, we supported her," said Plenković.