Prime Minister of Belgium, Herman Van Rompuy has been elected the first President of EU. He will officially enter the office on Jan. 1.

The position is assigned for 2.5 years being and is stipulated by the Lisbon Treaty coming into effect Dec. 1., ITAR-TASS informs. The president will chair EU’s summit and governmental sittings. Although he will have no right to vote, he is assigned a mediator’s role at the sittings. The second set of his responsibilities is to present EU at the summit meetings on international scene.

U.S. President Barack Obama issued his “congratulations after the 27-member European Union named Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy the first ever full-time president of the European Council,” Gulfnews reads Nov. 20.

The source quotes Obama as saying, “The United States has no stronger partner than Europe in advancing security and prosperity around the world.”

NEWS.am informed early that Herman Van Rompuy is “a hard-line opponent of Turkey's bid to join the European Union” grounding his argument on that this integration would “dilute Europe's Christian heritage”. The Telegraph says five years ago Rompuy said it is impossible that Muslim Turkey integrates in EU which is presented by Christian countries. “Turkey is not part of Europe and will never be one. Expansion of EU cannot take place with Turkey’s membership in the organization,” maintains Rompuy. He persists that Europe’s fundmental values are based on the Christian ideology that may be jeopardized by membership of such large Muslim country as Turkey is.