Von der Leyen Survives No-Confidence Vote Amid EU Challenges

Brussels, Jul 10 (AP) - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen comfortably weathered a no-confidence challenge Thursday, with a significant majority of EU lawmakers rejecting the censure motion against her.

The motion brought forth various allegations against von der Leyen, including private text messaging with the CEO of Pfizer during the COVID-19 pandemic, misuse of EU funds, and interfering in elections in Germany and Romania.

The proposal was decisively defeated with a 360-175 vote against it, and 18 lawmakers abstained during the European Parliament session in Strasbourg, France.

Von der Leyen did not attend the vote.

This vote attracted considerable criticism of Von der Leyen, who had spearheaded the EU's efforts to acquire vaccines for around 450 million citizens during the pandemic, and her party, the European People's Party (EPP), the largest political bloc in the assembly.

Accusations have been leveled at them for allegedly aligning with the hard right to advance their agenda, amid a noticeable shift to the right in the European Parliament following continent-wide elections a year ago.

“We won't vote with the far-right and we do not support this motion. This vote was little more than a far-right PR stunt from Putin-loving populists,” stated Greens group President Terry Reintke after the vote, referencing Russian President Vladimir Putin.

However, she continued, “We are ready to build pro-European majorities, but we will not be played by the EPP in their desperate deregulation agenda and their desire to consistently form anti-European majorities with the far-right.”

This censure motion, the first in the European Parliament in over ten years, was initiated by hard-right lawmakers.

On the eve of the vote, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared on Facebook that it was “the moment of truth: on one side the imperial elite in Brussels, on the other patriots and common sense. There is no getting out of it, it is essential to make a choice.”

He added, “Madam President, the essence of leadership is responsibility. Time to go!” Von der Leyen's administration has frequently clashed with Orban over his nationalist government’s policies perceived as anti-democratic. The European Commission has halted Hungary's access to billions of Euros in EU funds.

The second-largest group, the Socialists and Democrats, attributed the censure attempt to “the EPP's irresponsibility and the double games.”

During Monday’s debate, S&D leader Iratxe Garcia Perez questioned the EPP: “Who do you want to govern with? Do you want to govern with those that want to destroy Europe, or those of us who fight every day to build it?”

The EPP has notably collaborated with the hard-right to set the agenda for reviewing von der Leyen's new commissioners during their suitability hearings last year and to oppose the establishment of an ethics body aimed at combating corruption.

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