Ursula von der Leyen won only half the battle when EU leaders endorsed her for a second term as president of the European Commission in June.

Now, she still needs to win over a majority of the European Parliament's 720 lawmakers on Thursday.

She is pitching herself as an experienced leader and could benefit from a desire in the European Union for a steady hand at a time when war rages in Ukraine and Donald Trump's possible return to the White House in November elections could shake up global relations.

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Von der Leyen's conservative political grouping, the European People's Party (EPP), has 188 seats, the Socialists and Liberals have 155, and the liberal Renew group has 75. This is far more than the 361 voted needed to get a second five-year term.

On paper, it would seem that she could gather the required numbers from within the coalition.

"I am not a mathematician, but I think, with the three center forces that are supporting Ursula von der Leyen and that form part of a package deal, we have the numbers," EPP spokesperson Pedro Lopez said last week.

Neither the politicians nor the experts DW spoke with believe that it will be as........

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