EPP releases von der Leyen to appearance: 'Never with anti-EU parties'

Ursula von der Leyen will be the European People's Party's candidate for presidency of the European Commission. The deadline for submitting nominations has passed and the People's Party family has given its support to the German leader for a second term. The formal installation will not take place until the Bucharest Conference on March 6-7, but it has now been completed. The outgoing president is already involved in the election campaign and is keen to stress once again that her race should be well separate from the governmental work of the EU executive. The President of the Commission is elected by the European Parliament on the proposal of the European Council (i.e. the heads of state or government of the European Union), taking into account the election results. Five years ago, von der Leyen, at the time merely a former EU defense minister, was withdrawn by EU leaders, under the patronage of Emmanuel Macron, without going through this method (not foreseen by the treaties but used in 2014). One of the front runners, or the leader of the winning political group, was at that time Manfred Weber. He was elected – by secret ballot – by only 9 votes and the M5S patrol was decisive. Today, von der Leyen realizes that he has to win votes for the new parliament, in light of the low opinion polls for the Renewal Party liberals and some seats lost by the European People's Party and the Socialists. Will he ally with the right or seek help from the Greens? The German politician said: “Cooperation with those who oppose the rule of law is impossible, and with Putin's friends it is impossible.”

“For me, it is important to work with pro-European, pro-NATO, pro-Ukraine groups that clearly support our democratic values. So the most important question is: What is the content?”, explains von der Leyen. So, no to the Identity and Democracy group, which includes Le Pen’s National League, the National Rally, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Geert Wilders’ Dutch Freedom Party, which was attacked. Already attacked by von der Leyen last Monday. The case of Ecr is different, as Fratelli d'Italia will become the first party as of June. “Every European election involves a change in the composition of the different political parties and the different political groups. There has to be a very clear positioning For politicians, we do not know who will join the European Council of Reformists after the elections, or who will leave the European Council or who could join the European People's Party, and this is also possible – stresses von der Leyen – but the dividing line is: Are you for democracy? “About our values? Are you very firm on the rule of law? Do you support Ukraine? Are you fighting Putin's attempt to weaken and divide Europe? And these answers must be very clear.” Weber also talks about the ongoing movements within the conservative group. In the ECR camp, he highlights that “there are many problems, there are friends of Putin and there are those who have sworn against Putin, and there is no common understanding about what should be done. What I can already see is a rather interesting internal struggle developing.” This was demonstrated when Viktor Orbán said that he wanted to join the Czech European Council after the elections: “Immediately the Czech European Council delegation publicly declared that it did not want to be in the same camp with Orban, and so did the Swedish and Finnish populist parties,” said the head of the People’s Party. Regarding the Green Deal, the European People’s Party states that it does not want to take steps backwards, despite the concern for social impacts. “We are proud of what we are doing with the Green Deal, we “Green Deal Party. Ursula von der Leyen's proposals are ours and we are doing this for the benefit of future generations.” The Hungarian Prime Minister is certainly on the popular blacklist. Viktor Orbán “is the problem, he is in a way Putin’s voice within the EU” and the appeal is to overcome his veto. At least in terms of sanctions this time, Hungary has not been able to keep the EU in check for long. The ambassadors of the 27 countries this morning reached an agreement on the 13th package of measures against Russia, which will be approved in time for the anniversary of the Russian invasion on the 24th. Nearly 200 people and companies have been included in the list of persons subject to sanctions, including those From third countries accused of fraud, bringing the total to more than 2,000. Supply networks for drone components that end up in the Russian military complex are also being targeted.