BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s top official on Monday warned lawmakers not to fall for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to divide Europe and urged them to work together for the bloc’s 450 million citizens, ahead of two no confidence votes this week.
Two political families in the European Parliament – one from Europe’s far left, the other representing the far right – have tabled censure motions against European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen.
Lawmakers are due to vote on the motions Thursday, but the main centrist pro-European political families in the EU parliament who hold a majority in the chamber are expected to reject them, and a two-thirds majority is required to pass.
The commission proposes EU laws and supervises whether those that enter force are respected. It also manages trade on behalf of the 27 member countries and is Europe’s top competition regulator.
“We need to focus on what really matters, which is to deliver for Europeans,” von der Leyen said at the assembly in Strasbourg, France. “Our adversaries are not only ready to exploit any divisions – they are actively inciting those divisions in the first place.”
She said that Putin has “obedient friends in Europe who are doing his work for him.”
“This is the oldest trick in the book, sow division, spread disinformation, create a scapegoat, all to turn Europeans against each other, to try to lower our guard while we fight each other,” the head of the EU’s executive branch said.
The Left group blames von der Leyen for “signing off on a number of detrimental trade deals” and failing “to act against the Israeli government’s systemic violations of international law in Gaza.”
The nationalist Patriots for Europe insist that migration “has exploded” under her leadership and threatens “our identity and security.” They say she has abandoned farmers and consumers, and jeopardized food safety with pro-environment policies.
Von der Leyen comfortably won a censure motion in July – the first held at the European Parliament in over a decade – and the centrist parties accuse fringe groups of using the votes for political point-scoring.
But the votes have been a lightning rod for criticism of Von der Leyen — who led the EU drive to find vaccines for the citizens of all 27 countries during the pandemic — and her European People’s Party, which is the largest political family in the assembly.
They’re accused of cozying up to the hard right to push through their political agenda.
