But his decision was trashed online with social media users flocking to mock the Belgian politician, who has held the position of President of the European Council since 2019.
POLITICO journalist Eddy Wax posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Charles Michel becomes the first person to lose a head-of-the-list race to himself.”
Another wrote: “Would anybody REALLY have missed him??? He’s no Donald Tusk in fairness.”
A third added: “If he really does that, it means his intellectual and political capability is on a level of 12-years-old.”
In a statement confirming his decision, Mr Michel said his U-turn was due to “extreme reactions” and “personal attacks” after announcing his intentions to stand in the June elections.
He added that instead, he would “devote all my efforts to my current responsibilities”.
The politician concluded: “I don’t want this decision [to run for parliament] to distract us from our mission or undermine this institution and our European project.
“Nor be misused in any way to divide the European Council, which I believe must work tirelessly for European unity.”
Mr Michel will now continue to chair European Council meetings and remain central to forming the new Commission within Europe.
His announcement comes just six days before a major summit of EU leaders that was set to offer a blueprint of the bloc’s financial support for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
Within this meeting, Brussels will face pressure from Hungary, with Mr Orban maintaining his country’s veto against using the bloc’s shared budget to fund Ukraine’s conflict ambitions.
Across June a series of meetings will be held to discuss who will be taking on some of the bloc’s biggest jobs, weeks after the European elections, which begin on June 6.
