Ursula von der Leyen faced harsh criticism when her mandate as President of the European Commission was renewed. With 401 votes in favor, 284 against and 22 abstentions or invalid votes, the high-profile ultra-globalist was reappointed to lead the EU until 2029. Despite this, many were critical, including the Sweden Democrats and Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik of the Polish national conservative party Konfederacja.
Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik made strong accusations against von der Leyen, accusing her of promoting mass immigration, which she said had led to increased crime and insecurity in Europe. She made the accusations directly to von der Leyen during a heated debate in parliament:
– You are responsible for every rape, for every assault, for every tragedy caused by the influx of illegal immigrants.
In particular, she highlighted the crime that she says has accompanied the migrants and caused great insecurity among Europeans, including rape.
Absolute fire.
Watch Polish MEP @EwaZajaczkowska masterfully hold @vonderleyen accountable for her many efforts to destroy Europe.
“You are responsible for every rape, every assault, every tragedy caused by the influx of illegal migrants.”
“You should go to prison!” pic.twitter.com/DpdnE9wRcZ
— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) July 18, 2024
Criticism of the 'green transition'
Ms. Zajączkowska-Hernik also harshly criticized the EU's "green transition" and demonstratively tore up copies of the Climate Pact and the Migration Pact during her speech. She continued her criticism with a personal appeal:
– I address you as woman to woman, as mother to mother: how can you not be ashamed, promoting something like [the] Migration Pact, which leads to millions of women in Europe and children feeling threatened on the streets of their own cities?
Her remarks were met with loud boos from left-liberal MEPs, but she did not back down from her position. She argued that von der Leyen should be in jail because of the mass immigration she believes the European Commission president has promoted.
Von der Leyen's response
Von der Leyen herself responded to the criticism by highlighting her plans to combat the spread of “fake news”. She described her strategy, "pre-bunking", as a form of “vaccination” against disinformation.
– Instead of treating an infection once it has taken hold, that's the de-bunking, it is better to vaccinate, so that our body is inoculated, she explained.
Furthermore, von der Leyen stressed the importance of making EU citizens aware of “malign information influence” and the techniques behind it to reduce the risk of being influenced.
She also criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his trips to Kiev, Moscow, Beijing and Florida, which she described as a "appeasement mission" rather than - as Orbán himself chose to call them - a "peace mission".
She also promised never to accept that “demagogues and extremists destroy our European way of life” and stressed that the EU will work to achieve the “green transition” targets set for 2030 and 2050.
