Portuguese Leader Accepts EU Presidency

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - European Union leaders on Tuesday formally named Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Durao Barroso to serve as the next European Commission President, diplomats said.

The appointment ended an acrimonious debate over the best candidate for the EU's top job.

Durao Barroso, 48, is to succeed Italy's Romano Prodi, the current commission president.

His selection ended weeks of deadlock and haggling that again highlighted divisions over the Iraq war. Prodi steps down in October.

As the European leaders met in Brussels, diplomats said they also extended the term of Javier Solana, the EU's foreign and security affairs chief, for another five years.

Solana, a former NATO Secretary General, is to become the EU's foreign minister under an EU Constitution that the EU leaders adopted this month.

The charter now must be ratified by each EU nation's legislature or in a referendum.