Von der Leyen: “No confidence signed by Putin’s friends”. And she remembers the coffins in Bergamo during Covid

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen against the promoters of the motion of censure, that is, the no-confidence motion against her whose first signatory is Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea of ​​Aur (Ecr). The text will be voted on Thursday 10 July. "We are in an era of conflict between democracy and liberal regimes. We see growing threats from extremist parties that want to polarise our societies by flooding them with disinformation: there is ample evidence that many are supported by our enemies and supported by propaganda in Russia and elsewhere. They are movements fuelled by conspiracies and conspiracy theories, which apologise for Putin and you only have to look at the signatories of this motion to understand this", says the President of the European Parliament in the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The attack of the President of the European Commission is directed at the signatories of the motion, precisely. Like Piperea, who belongs to the Romanian far-right party Alliance for the Union of Romanians and in the European Parliament is part of the Conservatives group, which also includes Giorgia Meloni 's Brothers of Italy who did not sign the motion. The representatives of the M5S, on the other hand, have announced that they will vote for it. Including the Patriots for Europe group, which includes the League, Orbán, Le Pen and the Spaniard Abascal of Vox.

Piperea had spoken to the plenary explaining the motion of no confidence: "A motion of censure is a tool to strengthen democracy: it is not a problem, it is a solution, in favor of transparency. The Commission has excluded the Parliament, the decision-making process has become opaque", he added referring to the use of the emergency procedure to approve the EU Rearmament. "European citizens have asked us to clean up".

"What we have just heard from Mr Piperea was clear to everyone. It is taken straight from the oldest repertoire of extremists. Polarising society and eroding trust in democracy with false claims about election meddling. Trying to rewrite the history of how Europe successfully overcame a global pandemic together, from vaccines to NexGenEU. Making up debunked conspiracies about text messages. There is a choice here," von der Leyen said during her speech in the plenary session repeatedly interrupted by far-right MEPs in the European Parliament. "We can either follow Mr Piperea into his world of conspiracies and alleged sinister plots from - what he calls - 'Brussels', or we can clearly call it out for what it is: another crude attempt to drive a wedge between our institutions, between the pro-European and pro-democratic forces in this chamber. We can never allow that to happen, and we will never do that," she stressed.

Von der Leyen gets straight to the point. "None of us will ever forget the tragic images of military trucks crossing Bergamo at night, loaded with dead bodies, or when lockdowns were imposed, borders were closed and crucial health and protective equipment was disputed. I remember all those times when it seemed there was no light at the end of the tunnel - continues the President of the EU Commission - But I have not forgotten what we achieved together either, how a vaccine was developed in record time thanks to European science, how we increased industrial production after a slow start, how every Member State had the same access to life-saving vaccines. How every citizen, whether large or small, East or West, North or South, was given the same opportunity. And this is the Europe of solidarity that I love, and this is the Europe that extremists hate. We all remember how we protected workers through maritime transport channels or how we restarted our economies thanks to green lanes and the digital certificate. And of course, we all remember the historic day when we launched the Next Generation EU, to inject 800 billion euros in our economies to invest in every sector, from health to education, from clean technologies to digital ones, from SMEs to consolidated industries", says von der Leyen again.

Another issue: the reports considered unclear that von der Leyen would have had multinationals supplying vaccines during Covid. "It is no secret that I was in contact with the highest representatives of the companies producing the vaccines that would get us out of this crisis. Of course I was, just as I sought advice from the best epidemiologists and virologists in the world. Or I was in contact with UN organisations and NGOs. But the insinuation that these contacts were somehow inappropriate or against European interests is - by any measure - simply wrong. So let me set the facts straight once again. The contract negotiations were conducted jointly by the Commission and the Member States," he points out. "Every single contract negotiated was examined in detail in the capitals before being signed by each of the 27 Member States. There were no secrets, no hidden clauses, no purchasing obligations for the Member States. In fact, all 27 Member States decided to purchase their vaccines of their own free will. So any claim that a Member State was not aware of the contracts, prices or quantities is dishonest. In fact, let's call it by its name: it is simply a lie."

Then, closing his speech, he adds: “I will always protect the rule of law. European citizens want us to discuss this, let's not fall into the game of extremists. I say to pro-Europeans that even if we will not always agree, I can promise you that we will always work for unity and cohesion, when we negotiate on tariffs, with China. Let's continue to work for Europe”. The president of the EPP group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber , intervenes in the debate: "In a few days, Donald Trump's suspension of tariffs will end. Millions of jobs are at risk. Where are the friends of Maga in this room? What are Orban, Salvini and Alice Weidel doing to save jobs for Europeans? I'll tell you, Maros Sefcovic and Ursula von der Leyen are defending them! This motion of censure is against European citizens. A second example: the future of millions of farmers, mayors and researchers depends on European funds, especially in Romania, Mr Piperea. We need a proposal on the MFF as soon as possible. This motion of censure is against farmers, mayors and researchers! - continues Weber - Putin puts us to the test every day. We need a European pillar of defense, now, urgently. Putin's ambitions go beyond Ukraine, he hates our European way of life. I know that the German AfD and the Romanian AUR are puppets of Putin. But why is PiS joining this pro-Russian alliance now? This motion of censure is against the security of the European people.”