EU liberal lawmakers to back von der Leyen as next EU commission head - chairman

STRASBOURG (Reuters) - Liberal lawmakers at the European Parliament will support German conservative Ursula von der Leyen as the next European Commission president, the leader of the group said on Tuesday.

"My group will support Ms von der Leyen today. We are looking forward to work intensively with her to move Europe forward. There is a lot of work ahead of us. Let's renew Europe together!" said Dacian Ciolos, head of Renew Europe.

With that declaration, von der Leyen has moved closer to securing the majority she needs to be confirmed as the new head of the European Commission from November in a vote due at 1600 GMT on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee and Gabriela Baczynska)