European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who survived the no-confidence motion against her on Thursday, claimed it had been ‘fueled by conspiracy theorists’
The EU chief slammed efforts by members of the European Parliament to oust her, branding her critics “conspiracy theorists” and accusing them of acting on behalf of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She told the European Parliament that “puppet masters in Russia are trying to bring down the European Union”
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Criticism of von der Leyen’s leadership surrounds her handling of the EU’s Covid-19 response and in particular her lack of transparency in finalizing a 2021 vaccine procurement deal with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.
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A few months ago the European Court of Justice found her office at fault for failing to retain the text message exchange between her and Bourla along and with refusing to release them to journalists with adequate justification.
RT reports: Von der Leyen is facing a parliamentary motion of no-confidence in her presidency, which is scheduled for a vote on Thursday after being tabled by Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea. Addressing the parliament during a debate on Monday, von der Leyen said those backing the proposal were following “the oldest playbook of extremists” and were attempting to undermine public confidence in the EU with “false claims.”
“There is no proof that they have any answers, but there is ample proof that many are supported by our enemies and by their puppet masters in Russia or elsewhere.”
“These are movements fueled by conspiracies, from anti-vaxxers to Putin apologists. And you only have to look at some of the signatories of this motion to understand what I mean.”
In his remarks to parliament, Piperea accused the Commission of centralizing decision-making in a non-democratic fashion and of interfering in the internal affairs of member states.
Russian officials have claimed that EU leaders are using fear tactics to shield themselves from criticism. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dubbed von der Leyen, who is German, a “fuhrer” for her efforts to push a multi-billion euro militarization program on member states. Russia maintains that unlike Western states it does not interfere with other nations’ domestic affairs.
Von der Leyen urged “all the pro-Europeans, pro-democracy forces” in the chamber to support her agenda, arguing that unity was essential to uphold the EU’s foreign policy strength.
However, she managed to survive the a no-confidence vote.
The rare challenge has however exposed frictions between her backers and complaints about her leadership style.
Lawmakers in Strasbourg rejected the censure motion by 360 to 175.
Vone der Leyen, who wasn’t at the parliament for the vote, wrote on X afterwards: “As external forces seek to destabilize and divide us, it is our duty to respond in line with our values. Thank you, and long live Europe.”
