Yesterday, two motions were tabled in the European Parliament: one submitted by the Patriots for Europe group, the other by the left-wing faction. It is a strange coincidence that both were submitted by French politicians, Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally and Patriots leader, and Manon Aubry, a member of La France Insoumise.
The Patriots criticized the EU’s trade policy, the Mercosur agreement, and the US-EU customs and trade agreement, while the left accused von der Leyen of “complicity in the Gaza genocide,” reported Politico, as cited by Mandiner.
The debate was opened by Bardella, who said that the European Commission “is rushing headlong into nothingness,” and its policies “betray European farmers and sovereign nations.”
He believes that the Mercosur agreement and the enlargement policy symbolize Europe’s self-abandonment. As he put it: “The motion of no confidence is not against Europe, but for saving Europe. This is a vote against Macron’s Europe, for a Europe of free nations.”
Ursula von der Leyen responded by saying: “We live in a time of uncertainty and explosive tension.” She then warned that “Europe is being threatened from the east, divided from within, and Putin is watching all this with relish.”
“This is Putin’s oldest trick: division, disinformation, mistrust. This is a trap, and we cannot fall for it,” von der Leyen added.
The EC president was even more subtle now than at the EP session in July, when he called the Patriots “Putin’s useful idiots.” She was even willing to admit that “much of the criticism of the Commission stems from legitimate concerns.”
The leader of the People’s Party faction, Manfred Weber, who famously said that “national sovereignty does not exist” in a speech last month, accused the Patriots and the radical left of political profiteering:
“The motion of censure is one of the most serious tools of the European Parliament, and you are degrading it to a propaganda tool,” he said.
He then mentioned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán by name, along with the president of the German AfD and the Italian League:
“Where were you, Alice Weidel, Viktor Orbán, Matteo Salvini, when von der Leyen was fighting for farmers? You are the ones with close ties to the MAGA movement, so what are you doing for us now?” Weber asked, alluding to the Patriots’ American ties.
The People’s Party politician also noted: “It is becoming ridiculous that French election campaigns are being played out in the European Parliament.”
