EU elections. Ursula von der Leyen starts her campaign promising to fight back against Putin's friends
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission (photo: Getty Images)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has started her campaign for the European Parliament elections. In a speech in Greece, she promised to fight back against supporters of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
"Russia not only tries to wipe Ukraine off the face of the earth. But Russia’s aggression is broader: Undertaking hybrid attacks against Europe for years. Be it through cyber attacks or manipulation of social media or instrumentalisation of migrants," von der Leyen said.
According to her, Putin's "friends" in Europe are trying to "rewrite history" and "hijack the future" of Europeans under the guise of populists or demagogues. We are talking about far-right parties in Europe.
"Whether this is the AfD in Germany, the Rassemblement national in France, the Konfederacja in Poland, or others. The names may be different, but the goal is the same: They are trampling on our values and they want to hijack our future. In the days, weeks, and months ahead, our job is to fight back," she emphasized.
Ursula von der Leyen is a leading candidate of the center-right European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament elections. The European Parliament elections are scheduled for June 6-9, 2024. They will be the first after Britain's exit from the EU.
Election year
In 2024, for the first time in history, elections will be held in more than 70 countries with a total population of 4 billion people. And the results of at least some of them, especially in the West, may affect support for Ukraine.
In particular, presidential elections were held in Slovakia yesterday. An ally of anti-Ukrainian Prime Minister Robert Fico and a pro-Western former foreign minister competed for the post. RBC-Ukraine covered who won.
Read more about the key elections of 2024 in RBC-Ukraine's article.
