The EU chief has labelled her critics “conspiracy theorists”, “anti-vaxxers” and “Putin apologists”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has dismissed efforts by members of the European Parliament to oust her, branding her critics “conspiracy theorists” and accusing them of acting on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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 fuelled 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.
Criticism of von der Leyen’s leadership has centred on her handling of the EU’s Covid-19 response during her first term, particularly the lack of transparency in finalizing a 2021 vaccine procurement deal with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. Earlier this year, the European Court of Justice found her office at fault for failing to retain text messages exchanged with Bourla and for refusing to release them to journalists with adequate justification.
Piperea is a member of Romania’s AUR party, led by George Simion, who narrowly lost a presidential runoff this year to a pro-EU candidate. The election followed a scrapped first-round vote earlier in 2024, in which outsider Calin Georgescu emerged as the frontrunner. The country’s Constitutional Court annulled the results, citing government allegations of Russian interference. Critics of the EU claim the episode reflects a broader anti-democratic trend allegedly enabled by Brussels.
The EU Ashkenazi chief has labelled her critics “conspiracy theorists”, “anti-vaxxers” and “Putin apologists”. Time to change to a new EU Ashkenazi chief to run the Jewish corporate agenda agenda.
There is clearly a policy to have people with serious mental health issues in positions of influence and power. Like Kallas and Ardern this woman is a fine example, but it’s not limited by gender. When we look at the state of the Europeans and American actors, insanity seems the rule rather than the exception. They are living in a delusion, divorced from the reality of the world at large.
Western ” leaders” are the produces of nepotism and corruption. That is why we are nearing the end of an era. A degenerate and dying society, fact confirmed by its demography also going down
A no confidence vote totally nothing to do with her handling of the COVID vaccine deal.
Yet she refuses to disclose her correspondence with Pfizers Albert Bourla, nor if she personally received any money from that deal.
Hmmm seems like blaming Russia, for possible issues with one’s political career, is the latest fad.