‘Warmongering’ EU Commission boss must leave post, European Left chief says

9 months ago 30

Ursula von der Leyen’s tenure as the European Commission president has been the “worst” in years due to her “warmongering” and insensitive handling of migration, the president of the Party of European Left, Walter Baier, told Euractiv, confirming that the party is against her possible second term.

The Left group in the European Parliament already voted against von der Leyen in 2019 after grilling her in a closed-door meeting: “Her responses were insufficient to satisfy the basic aspirations of EU citizens. They will help perpetuate the chronic problems the EU is facing,” Martin Schirdewan, the co-president of the group, said at the time.

Five years later, and with EU elections coming up in June, Brussels is increasingly speculating on whether von der Leyen will seek a second term, something she has so far remained tight-lipped on.

During a Euractiv event held on 30 November, Thanasis Bakolas, the secretary general of the conservative European People’s Party, to which von der Leyen belongs, hinted the EPP would back her second mandate.

“I feel confident that my leaders, the twelve leaders sitting at the European Council table, will do the right thing and stand by our Commission president’s second term,” he said.

Asked about top jobs after the EU elections, the Left’ Baier predicted that the European Commission would undergo a shift to the right amidst a horse-trading game between the conservatives and the far-right, with the European Left remaining an “opposition and control” force in the next legislative term, without getting any top jobs.

As an opposition force, he said, “We will turn to the public and try to mobilise people against austerity, against the war, for ecological transformation.”

On the Commission president renewal, he said he was “absolutely looking forward to von der Leyen leaving”, slamming her as the worst Commission president he has seen in his time as a politician.

“I have been observing European politics for more than 15 years, and it’s absolutely the worst turn (…). You can say a woman on the top of the European Commission is an achievement as such, which is very true, but at the same time, she is warmongering, and she lacks any sensitivity in terms of migration policy.”

He deplored the controversial ‘cash for migrants’ deal the EU has concluded with Tunisia, as well as von der Leyen’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, which was also widely criticised by the Commission’s staff.

“So, I think: thank you very much, Mrs von der Leyen.”

Another key mistake of von der Leyen, Baier said, is the failure to address the COVID-19 health crisis “quickly and swiftly”, which led to millions of deaths, as well as the controversial handling of the vaccines deals with big pharma, particularly with Pfizer.

“It was difficult, it was a new experience, but they could have reacted earlier,” he said.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]