succeed Josep Borrell Fontelles as President of the European Parliament in the second part of the 2004–2009 term, which he did on 16 January 2007. He was elected with 450 of 689 valid votes, and defeated Italian Green Monica Frassoni, Danish Eurosceptic Jens-Peter Bonde and French Communist Francis Wurtz. As President of the European Parliament he initiated the House of European History project. He made reference to the House in his inaugural speech in 2007. For many years he is serving as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the House of European History in Brussels. Later career On 4 December 2009 Pöttering was elected Chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation from 1 January 2010; he was succeeded by Norbert Lammert in 2018. When the EPP membership of Hungarian party Fidesz was suspended in 2019, EPP president Joseph Daul appointed Pöttering – alongside Herman van Rompuy and Wolfgang Schüssel – to a group of high-level experts who were mandated to monitor Fidesz's compliance with EPP values. Political positions Pöttering is known as an enthusiastic European Federalist and an ally of Angela Merkel. He has stated that his priority will be to rejuvenate the European Constitution. In February 2020, Pöttering joined around fifty former European prime ministers and foreign ministers in signing an open letter published by British newspaper The Guardian to condemn U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, saying it would create an apartheid-like situation in occupied Palestinian territory. Recognition National honours : Great Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2010) Foreign honours : Grand Golden Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (2002) : Grand Cross of the Papal Order of St Gregory the Great (2007) : Great Cross of Merit of the Grand Order of Queen Jelena with Star and Shoulder Ribbon (2007) : 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2008) : 2nd Class of the Order of Prince Jaroslaw the Wise (2008) : Grand Cross of the Order of the Three Stars (2009) : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Portugal) (2009) : Commander of the Legion of Honour (2011) : Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit of the Kingdom of Spain (2011) : Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2013) : Commander of the Order