Von der Leyen: Cooperation with the right is possible under conditions

“The criterion for me is that members of parliament should be pro-European, pro-Ukraine and pro-rule of law,” says the current president of the European Commission.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen believes that cooperation with MEPs from right-wing parties is possible under certain conditions. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk this week, von der Leyen said that since there is no obligatory faction in the EU Parliament, a majority must be sought repeatedly on every issue. That's why we don't have to look at groups, but at representatives.

He added: “The criterion for me is that the representatives we want to work with, and to whom we make an offer, are with Europe and Ukraine, that is, against Russia, and it is about winning political forces.” Important to the majority in the middle. Von der Leyen described the European elections at the beginning of June as directional elections. It is about developing Europe or dividing and dismantling it, as the right-wing populists wanted.

Good chances for a second term

Elections in the 27 member states of the European Union begin on June 6. Voting is scheduled to take place in Austria on June 9. Ursula von der Leyen is the front-runner for the Conservative Vice Presidential Party family. If it becomes the stronger force, von der Leyen has a good chance of a second term at the helm of the EU Commission.

More recently, the Identity Faction of right-wing parties in the EU Parliament caused an uproar when it expelled all members of the AfD. The Freedom Party of Austria voted against the exclusion of the AfD. The background was the incidents surrounding the AfD candidate, Maximilian Krah, who was not only accused of publishing controversial statements about the SS in an Italian newspaper. He and deputy European election candidate Peter Bystrun are also accused of having close contacts with Russia and China respectively. (APA/Reuters)