On 18 July, Ursula Von der Leyen was reelected for a second term as the European Commission chief by the European Parliament, receiving 401 votes in favour. During the debate that preceded the vote, the political groups in the Parliament expressed their positions about her programme. Critics emerged even from those groups that supported her reelection, such as the Socialists and Democrats or the Greens. The far-right groups attacked von der Leyen in various ways, highlighting their negative stance concerning the Green Deal, immigration and the vast alliance between the democratic parties that supported her reelection.
However, the newly established Europe of Sovereign Nations group, which includes the most radical parties of Europe’s far-right spectrum, introduced vulgar behaviour into Parliament’s debates. This behaviour, which is unprecedented in the European Parliament, has raised concerns about the future of parliamentary decorum and the potential for more polarising and aggressive debates.
The group has 25 MEPs representing eight countries, but the leadership is in the hands of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Entirely all members of Europe of Sovereign Nations group were rejected by the Patriots of Europe of Marine Le Pen due to their extremist positions, including anti-Semite and racist rhetoric.
The new group’s co-presidents are René Aust from AfD and Stanisław Tyszka from the Polish New Hope – an ally of the Konfederacja (Confederation) coalition from Poland.
Before and during the debate preceding the vote, representatives of the group attacked Ursula von der Leyen with arguments from the vast disinformation arsenal of the radical far-right.
“No to Mrs von der Leyen as Commission President: mass immigration, censorship, deindustrialisation and the sabotage of Orbán’s peace efforts are her fault. She did not get our votes today! #AfD,” co-president René Aust posted on X.
Sarah Knafo, one of the group’s vice-presidents and an MEP for the French Reconquête party, wrote: “To Ursula von der Leyen, I ask: what have the Europeans done to you that you treat them with such contempt?”
Another AfD MEP, Tomasz Froelich, posted on X that the President of the European Commission will bring “even more migration! Even more woke re-education! Even more green climate dictates! Even more war! That is what Ursula threatens us with.”
However, the Europe of Sovereign Nations representative in the debate, Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik, one of the three New Hope MEPs, exceed the limits.
“HANDS OFF POLAND ❗ – that’s what I said straight to Ursula von der Leyen’s face in her first speech in the European Parliament! You are the face of the European Green Deal, which is destroying the European economy and turning Europe into an open-air museum! I am speaking to you as a woman to a woman, as a mother to a mother: Are you not ashamed of pushing through the Migration Pact, which puts women and children at risk on the streets of your own cities?! You belong in prison, not in the European Commission!” Zajączkowska-Hernik reported her intervention on her X account.
The group’s political parties applauded her, giving a clear sign to the Parliament that the extremists would introduce the vulgar, aggressive, and polarising style they use in their countries, attempting to lower the level of the debates. After all, these parties support their countries’ exit from the EU, envisaging close, protectionist, and racially ‘clean’ national states. This stance is in line with their nationalist and anti-EU ideologies, which they aim to promote through their behaviour in the European Parliament.
László Toroczkai, the leader of the Our Homeland Movement (Mi Hazánk Mozgalom), promised the Commission President a mass demonstration if she visited Budapest.
“I am glad that Péter Magyar (whose party supported the reelection of Ursula von der Leyen as part of the globalist grand coalition) invited Ursula to Hungary. In this way, at least in the framework of a demonstration in Budapest, we will be able to remind you of the crimes he committed against the people of Europe”, Toroczkai posted on X.
