Von der Leyen reveals EU's new top line-up

After weeks of fierce political horse-trading, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen unveiled Tuesday her new top team to help steward the EU through the next five years of global uncertainty.

Faced with Russia's war in Ukraine, the potential return of Donald Trump as U.S. president and competition from China, the formation of the new commission comes at a crucial moment.

"It's about strengthening our tech sovereignty, our security and our democracy," von der Leyen said as she announced the team at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

To confront the challenges, von der Leyen handed French candidate Stephane Sejourne a powerful executive vice president role overseeing industrial strategy, and also named a new commissioner for defense to help Europe rearm.

Spain's candidate Teresa Ribera, a socialist climate campaigner, was also made an executive vice president, tasked with overseeing the bloc's economic transition toward carbon neutrality.

The new defense brief went to former Lithuanian prime minister Andrius Kubilius, one of several hawkish Russia critics in eastern Europe to receive a prominent role.

Those include Estonia's ex-premier Kaja Kallas, already chosen by EU leaders as the bloc's foreign policy chief.

As part of the bloc's careful balancing act, the German head of the EU executive had to choose the lineup for her second term from nominees put forward by the other 26 member states.

That has meant treading a political tightrope between the demands of competing national leaders — and putting some noses out of joint.

The highest-profile casualty was France's first-choice candidate Thierry Breton, who quit suddenly as internal market commissioner on Monday accusing von der Leyen of...