Left-populist BSW wants to vote against von der Leyen together with the right

Strasbourg – The German left-populist Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) in the European Parliament intends to vote in favor of the upcoming motion of no confidence against EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her team.

The motion of no confidence, initiated by a right-wing Romanian member of parliament, accuses von der Leyen of, among other things, a lack of transparency and mismanagement in connection with the policies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As BSW, we will vote for the motion of no confidence, even if we do not agree on every detail and the motion is mainly supported by right-wing forces whose values and politics we do not share,” said Fabio De Masi, spokesperson for the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht delegation in the European Parliament. The BSW currently has 5 of the 720 members of the European Parliament.

There is also support from the right-populist Alternative for Germany (AfD). “Von der Leyen’s removal is long overdue,” said AfD Member of the European Parliament Petr Bystron. This has so far been prevented by a left-wing majority. “Of course, we as AfD support the motion of no confidence,” said Bystron.

De Masi: The right has written us off

It is “pathetic” that the majority of the European Parliament did not want to discuss “the legal violations of Ms. von der Leyen in the Pfizer affair,” De Masi said. Furthermore, she disempowers the Parliament on “rearmament goals” and ignores the “violations of international law in Gaza and the attack on Iran.”

If the motion of no confidence is accepted, the EU Commission would have to resign en masse. However, such a scenario is considered unlikely, as a two-thirds majority of the votes cast and simultaneously a majority of the members of Parliament is required.

The Commission stated that such initiatives are the right of the members of Parliament. “We have no further comments on their decisions.” (July 3)