BRUSSELS (AP) — Five months after the European Union lurched to the political right, the influence of nationalist and populist parties will go on public display in Brussels on Monday when lawmakers vet the proposed new members of the EU’s increasingly powerful executive branch.
Over five days of hearings, the EU parliamentarians will grill 26 top officials — nominated by their national governments — to establish whether they are suitable to lead the next European Commission on policies like agriculture, trade, economic affairs, health or migration.
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FILE - Designated European Commissioners Wopke Hoekstra, left, and Raffaele Fitto, right, are seen during a first meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 18, 2024. (Olivier Hoslet/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Designated European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi is seen during a first meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 18, 2024. (John Thys/Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - Designated European Commissioner Kaja Kallas is seen during a first meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 18, 2024. (John Thys/Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - Designated European Commissioner Teresa Ribera is seen during a first meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 18, 2024. (John Thys/Pool Photo via AP, File)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen rings a bell to signify the beginning of the weekly college of commissioners meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
The commission is the only EU body with the power to draft laws which, once passed by the Parliament and the council of member states, apply in all 27 countries of the bloc. They cover everything from water quality to data protection to competition policy.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen assembled her new-look executive in September, seeking to balance sensitive political, geographical and gender concerns within a team that will lead the European project for the next five years.
The vast majority of the would-be commissioners come from the right of the political spectrum, mostly the European People’s Party (EPP), a conservative EU-wide political family that counts von der Leyen as a member and is the biggest in the parliament. That should makes things easier for her.
Despite that advantage, the EPP has already worked with hard-right groups — including Italian Premier Georgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, which has neo-fascist roots, and stridently nationalist lawmakers from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's ruling Fidesz — to secure majorities in the European Parliament.
Other pro-European parties were weakened in the June 6-9 EU elections and von der Leyen can operate without them. The second-biggest group — the center-left Socialists and Democrats — seems ready to rubber-stamp her team. Its leaders say it does not have a “kill list” of nominees that it intends to remove.
The commission is akin to a government cabinet, with commissioners instead of ministers. But it proposes laws that influence all aspects of the lives of around 450 million people in the 27 countries that make up the world’s biggest trading bloc. Von der Leyen is the boss of more than 33,000 employees.
The commission handles trade talks, sealing agreements with EU partners in the outside world and managing disputes at the World Trade Organization. It’s also a powerful competition watchdog, whose influence has been felt by tech giants like Apple, Google and Meta.
Von der Leyen's power is growing. Her team led the European drive to secure COVID-19 vaccines, and whipped up a massive rescue package to help Europe's economies cope with the cost of trying to stop the pandemic spreading. It also helped the EU weather the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
This is von der Leyen’s second term. More than half the nominees — 14 of them, compared to 10 last time — are from EPP parties, like her. Ten of them are women. Von der Leyen, a German, is keeping Europe's other major powers France, Italy and Spain close by her side.
To the disappointment of mainstream parties, she has penciled in Meloni ally Raffaele Fitto as a new executive vice president — one of five — to oversee “cohesion policy,” which helps finance infrastructure projects with a big slice of the EU’s massive budget.
Former French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné was made a VP and secured the industry portfolio. Spanish Socialist Teresa Ribera, another VP, has a powerful post combining the transition toward a green economy and competition policies.
Former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas will be von der Leyen's foreign policy chief. Ultimately, though, they will all answer to the president.
Nominees are questioned for three hours by the leaders of committees and senior lawmakers most closely linked to their portfolios. The nominees must demonstrate general competence, a commitment to Europe, independence, and good communications skills.
Immediately after, an evaluation is made behind closed doors. Candidates must win a two-thirds majority vote. If they fall short, lawmakers can ask additional questions in writing or request a further 90-minute grilling.
Some candidates are deemed not good enough. Lawmakers might reject others as a show of strength. Three were vetoed in 2019. Sometimes portfolios are switched among the commissioners, or their responsibilities redefined, to satisfy the parliament’s demands.
The vote results should remain secret until the entire hearing process ends on Nov. 12. But given the high political stakes, lawmakers will probably leak the news. Any group that vetoes a candidate risks seeing their own knocked out in revenge.
Von der Leyen's EPP and the hard right ganged up to set the hearing agenda. As a result, the most controversial candidate — Italy's Fitto — is the first of the six VPs to be questioned on the final day of hearings. Any mainstream lawmakers who target him risk seeing their favorite ousted in return.
One of the first candidates to make his case will be Glenn Micallef — the socialist nominee for youth, culture and sport — who hails from Malta, the EU's smallest country. He's been branded as a political lightweight, compared to the former ministers and premiers being questioned. His fate could set the tone.
Marta Kos, a liberal from Slovenia foreseen as the next enlargement commissioner, is inexperienced too. She's also been criticized for being pro-Russian.
Oliver Varhelyi is Orbán's man in Brussels. He's been given the health and animal welfare portfolio. Lawmakers still seethe about a hot mic incident in which he referred to them as “idiots.” Some doubt the wisdom of putting him in charge of health after Orbán opted for Russian and Chinese-made vaccines rather than join the EU's joint purchasing effort. But voting him down poses risks. Orbán has been at war with the commission and he could simply refuse to name a replacement, blocking the entire process.
FILE - Designated European Commissioners Wopke Hoekstra, left, and Raffaele Fitto, right, are seen during a first meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 18, 2024. (Olivier Hoslet/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Designated European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi is seen during a first meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 18, 2024. (John Thys/Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - Designated European Commissioner Kaja Kallas is seen during a first meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 18, 2024. (John Thys/Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - Designated European Commissioner Teresa Ribera is seen during a first meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 18, 2024. (John Thys/Pool Photo via AP, File)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen rings a bell to signify the beginning of the weekly college of commissioners meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The highly decorated Army soldier inside a Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks that exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas shot himself in the head just before detonation, authorities said Thursday.
The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people but virtually no damage to the hotel. Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Matthew Livelsberger, a Green Beret, likely planned a more damaging attack but the steel-sided vehicle absorbed much of the force from the crudely built explosive.
Damage from the blast was mostly limited to the interior of the truck because the explosion “vented out and up” and didn’t hit the Trump hotel doors just a few feet away, the sheriff said.
“The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience,” said Kenny Cooper, a special agent in charge for the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Authorities are still working to determine a motive.
“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology,” said Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBI’s special agent in charge.
A handgun was found at the feet of the man in the driver’s seat, who officials believe is Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado, McMahill said. The shot appeared to be self-inflicted, officials said.
Livelsberger had recently returned from an overseas assignment in Germany and was on approved leave when he died, according to a U.S. official.
A law enforcement official said investigators learned through interviews that he may have gotten into a fight with his wife about relationship issues shortly before he rented the Tesla and bought the guns. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Among other charred items found inside the truck were a second firearm, a number of fireworks, a passport, a military ID, credit cards, an iPhone and a smartwatch, McMahill said. Authorities said both guns were purchased legally.
The remains were burned beyond recognition and investigators have not definitively identified them as Livelsberger, but the IDs and tattoos on the body “give a strong indication that it’s him,” the sheriff said.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.
He was awarded a total of five Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor.
McMahill said Livelsberger rented the Tesla electric vehicle in Denver on Saturday and the sheriff displayed a map showing that it was charged in the Colorado town of Monument near Colorado Springs on Monday. On New Year’s Eve, it was charged in Trinidad, Colorado, and three towns in New Mexico along the Interstate 40 corridor.
Then on Wednesday, the day of the explosion, it was charged in three Arizona towns before video showed it on the Las Vegas Strip about 7:30 a.m.
McMahill said investigators obtained charging station photos showing Livelsberger “was the individual that was driving this vehicle” and was alone.
“We’re not aware of any other subjects involved in this particular case,” the sheriff said.
Authorities searched a townhouse in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Thursday as part of the investigation. Neighbors said the man who lived there had a wife and a baby and did not give any sign of posing a danger to anyone.
Cindy Helwig, who lives diagonally across a narrow street separating the homes, said she last saw the man she knew as Matthew about two weeks ago when he asked her if she had a tool he needed to fix the SUV he was working on.
“He was a normal guy,” said Helwig, who said she last saw his wife and baby earlier this week. Helwig noted that people in the townhome on a hill with views of the mountains don’t interact much except for when they’re getting the mail or walking their dogs.
The explosion of the truck, packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, came hours after 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people before being shot to death by police. That crash was being investigated as a terrorist attack. The FBI said Thursday that they believe Jabbar acted alone, reversing its position from a day earlier that he likely worked with others.
Both Livelsberger and Jabbar spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive Army base in North Carolina that is home to multiple Army special operations units. However, one of the officials who spoke to the AP said there is no overlap in their assignments at the base, now called Fort Liberty.
Chris Raia, FBI deputy assistant director, said Thursday that officials have found “no definitive link” between the New Orleans attack and the truck explosion in Las Vegas.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday afternoon on X that “we have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself."
Musk has recently become a member of Trump’s inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk was in Las Vegas early Wednesday. Both had attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at his South Florida estate.
Musk spent an estimated $250 million during the presidential campaign to support the former president. He was at Trump’s resort on election night and has been a frequent guest there. Trump has named Musk, the world’s richest man, to co-lead a new effort to find ways to cut the government’s size and spending.
Copp, Richer and Long contributed from Washington. Contributing were Associated Press writers Rio Yamat and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas; Colleen Slevin in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles.
People walk by Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
A Tesla Cybertruck pulls into Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows items found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows a passport belonging to Matthew Livelsberger, found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows items found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows a weapon found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows the Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows an ID belonging to Matthew Livelsberger, found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
Investigators search a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Parker Seibold /The Gazette via AP)
Investigators search a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Parker Seibold /The Gazette via AP)
Investigators search the garbage outside of a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Parker Seibold /The Gazette via AP)
Investigators enter a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)
Investigators stand outside a townhouse complex in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
