Irishman New President of European Parliament
Patrick Cox, 49, secured 298 votes in the third round of ballots in the plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
His main challenger, UK Socialist David Martin, took 237 votes.
Cox succeeds French Nicole Fontaine, who held the job for the past two-and-a-half years.
There were five candidates for the post. 568 valid votes were cast in the 626 member European Parliament. Two candidates dropped out after the first round. The third candidate Jeans-Peter Bonde of Denmark got only 33 votes in the final third round.
Patrick Cox, 49, has been a member of the European Parliament since 1989, representing the constituency of Munster in the Republic of Ireland.
Before entering politics he worked both as an economics lecturer and as a journalist and television presenter on Irish television.
He is chairman of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party and a member of the Conference of Presidents.
(IRNA)