In contrast to the relentless confrontation that they exhibit in Madrid, both the People’s Party As the PSOE have been integrated into the ‘grand coalition’ which has allowed this Thursday the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen for a second term. The PNV, which is part of the family of European liberals, has also joined in. The German has obtained a total of 401 votes, 41 above the absolute majority required. in the European Parliament to renew the office until 2029, thanks to the simultaneous support of the Popular Party, Socialists, Liberals and Greens.
For once, Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo have agreed to congratulate warmly congratulated Von der Leyen on her re-election. “We are pleased that your programme incorporates the PP’s demands for the coming years: defence of the rule of law, of the countryside and of our security,” Feijóo wrote on his X account.
“We will continue to work together to advance a more prosperous, sustainable and socially just European Union. Spain will continue to be a loyal and constructive partner to move forward in building a stronger Europe,” The President of the Government said for his part.
[Von der Leyen, reelegida por la Eurocámara para un segundo mandato por una ‘gran coalición’ ampliada]
But beyond the PNV, both Pedro Sánchez’s coalition partner, Addlike the rest of the parliamentary allies (Podemos, Compromís, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, BNG and Bildu) have voted against the Commission President. At the other end of the political spectrum, the six MEPs from Vox and the three from Se Acabó la Fiesta have also opted for ‘no’, although for opposite reasons.
“Today is a bad day for Europea bad day for European citizens. Von der Leyen has been re-elected again, a Commission president who has been able to whitewashing Meloni’s far right to regain his position in power,” declared the leader of Sumar in the European Parliament, Star Galan.
MEPs queue for vote on Ursula von der Leyen
“From our point of view, social Europe, the Europe of employment, the Europe of the people does not need a president who signs a Migration Pact that does not defend human rights“We don’t need a president who defends a Green Deal that is going backwards in terms of climate change. And we don’t need her to defend Israel against the interests of the Palestinian people,” says Galán, who has joined the radical left group, which is opposed to the Germans.
“Ursula von der Leyen was elected by a grand coalition of the PP and PSOE, supported by Meloni’s far right, the Liberals and the Greens. This is a grand coalition of war and cuts and also complicit with the genocidal State of Israel,” agreed the representative of Podemos in Strasbourg, Irene MonteroMontero was the candidate of the radical left group to challenge Roberta Metsola’s re-election as head of the European Parliament, but in the end she only obtained 61 votes, compared to the 562 of the Maltese.
ERC MEP, Diana Ribahas justified the ‘no’ to Von der Leyen because “she has not closed the door to collaborating with Meloni’s political group in the European Parliament and that is a very clear red line”. Esquerra also considers “unfair and inhumane” the Migration Pact promoted by the German company. And he denounces “the lack of concrete proposals to reverse the free trade agreements that so harm our primary sector or the possible reform of the euroorder“, although Von der Leyen has not given any details on this issue.
“Compromís has voted against the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen because there have been no decisive steps to create a cordon sanitaire against the three extreme right-wing parties. Nor has Netanyahu been brave in condemning the Palestinian genocide.. Nor has it guaranteed that Valencia’s productive sectors – industry and agriculture – have guaranteed jobs and fair prices,” argued the MEP of this party, Vicent Marzà.
“I vote against the warlord, I vote against austerity policies and I vote against a president who attacked the interests of the productive sectors of my country, Galicia,” justifies the representative of the Galician Nationalist Bloc, Ana Miranda. ERC, Compromís and the BNG are all affiliated with the nationalist faction of the Greens group, the European Free Alliance. Although the Greens have agreed to support Von der Leyen, these parties have disobeyed the group’s order.
Ursula von der Leyen, just after her victory in the European Parliament was declared
Despite criticism from all of Sánchez’s partners against Von der Leyen for making a pact with the extreme right, the truth is that The vast majority of MEPs from the far-right groups voted ‘no’ the Commission President. The most emblematic case is that of the 24 parliamentarians of Brothers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni’s party. The Italian Prime Minister abstained from nominating Von der Leyen to the European Council, but her MEPs have gone a step further and opposed her re-election.
“Farmers, industry and workers have been directly threatened by Von der Leyen’s speech, which has said that not only will she not stop the European Green Deal, but she has a zero industrial plan that is continue with the plan for mass layoffs“It is a shield of the elites against democracy, against the millions of Europeans who have called for change,” said Jorge Buxadé, the spokesperson in Strasbourg for Vox, which is affiliated with the far-right group Patriots for Europe.
“Doña Ursula speaks to us about freedom, the same one that forced lockdowns and mandatory injections“The same one that forces us to eliminate cash for the implementation of the digital euro, so that later a bureaucrat can freeze all the money in your pocket,” argues the leader of Se Acabó La Fiesta, Alvise Pérez, to justify his ‘no’ to the president of the Commission.
Add Comment