Ursula von der Leyen has been re-elected to a second 5-year term as President of the European Commission - the European Union’s powerful executive body.
The majority of members of the European Parliament backed Ms von der Leyen's bid in a secret ballot.
Ms von der Leyen thanked everyone who voted for her.
“I would plain and simply like to express my gratitude to the leaders who endorsed my nomination for a second mandate as President of the European Commission. For me, this means that I now will seek confirmation from the European Parliament on my appointment after presenting my political guidelines for the next five years. So there's another step to do on the way forward.”
The 720-member European Parliament approved Ms von der Leyen with 401 votes in favour, 284 against and 15 abstentions.
She needed 361 votes to pass and made her case by pledging to create a European Defence Union and to stay the course on Europe's green transition.
Ms von der Leyen has outlined a program focused on prosperity.
"Our first priority will be prosperity and competitiveness. In the last five years, we have weathered the fiercest storm in our union's economic history. We have emerged stronger from the shock of lockdowns, and we have overcome an unprecedented energy crisis. We did this together and I believe we can be proud of it."
The re-election ensures leadership continuity for the 27-nation bloc as it wrestles with crises ranging from the war in Ukraine to climate change, migration and housing shortages.
Ms Von der Leyen says she and her supporters are working for a strong Europe.
President of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Iratxe Garcia Perez says the aim is to work together to achieve a common goal.
"It's clear, a pro-European alliance is working for our common values, since the differences, of course, we have a lot of differences but at the same time we have common goals. We want to be Europe who defend Ukraine, Europe who defend the rule of law. Europe who defend the Green Deal and the social dimension and we have to work on this line."
The European Free Alliance group in the parliament voted for Von der Leyen after receiving assurances from her on her commitment to Europe's climate initiatives, improving social policies such as providing affordable housing and to not do deals with far right parties.
The group's President, Bas Eickhout, says their support for Ms von der Leyen was based on an element of trust.
"It is a leap of faith, but we have had a process now for a couple of weeks with her and with her team that really created a lot of trust and I think the political guidelines - we didn't see them before - so when we saw them this morning, it reflected also the discussions we had and I think that is also a kind of a token of trust."
A host of European leaders have congratulated Ms von der Leyen.
Roberta Metsola is the President of the European Parliament.
"I would like to start by warmly congratulating Ursula von der Leyen on her well-deserved re-election as president of the European Commission. The clear vote in favour by members of the European Parliament is a testament to her strong leadership and unwavering values in testing times. It is the best possible decision for Europe."
However, Ms von der Leyen’s confirmation also garnered criticism from different sides of the political spectrum.
The French National Rally’s Jordan Bardella and parties such as Viktor Orban are among those critical of her appointment.
Italy's far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni says her Brothers of Italy's party voted against Ms von der Leyen because they didn't agree with the process that led to her re-election.
