Alde, the liberal grouping in the EU parliament, chose Germany's Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann on Wednesday as its lead candidate for the European elections in June.
The 66-year-old member of Germany's Free Democrats (FDP), which is the minority party in the three-way coalition government, is currently chairwoman of the German parliament's Defence Committee.
Delegates of Alde (the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) voted for Strack-Zimmermann in a meeting in Brussels, it said on X, formerly Twitter.
Strack-Zimmermann thanked her party colleagues on X.
"Liberals are anchored into the heart of Europe. We know that we must fight together not against each other," she wrote.
She wants to campaign for a Europe blessed with security, prosperity and freedom.
"The European Union must become more independent and more resilient. We must defend ourselves against the autocrats of the world - outside and inside the European Union," she added.
He nomination comes despite controversy in the German Bundestag over the disclosure of confidential information from a meeting of the parliament's Defence Committee.
The Social Democrats (SPD), the major partner in the governing coalition, even asked on Wednesday if Strack-Zimmermann "can still guarantee the independent and trustworthy functioning of the Defence Committee at all."
The post of commission president is meant to go to the lead candidate of the winning party in June's EU elections.
Strack-Zimmermann's nomination therefore pits her against fellow German and incumbent Ursula von der Leyen, who has been chosen as the lead candidate of the centre-right European People's Party.
