Campaigning in Katowice on Tuesday, 7 May, European Christian Democratic candidate Ursula von der Leyen praised Poland’s return to “the vanguard of our united European response” thanks to the pro-European government coalition led by Donald Tusk.
In her opinion, a number of lessons can be learned from the Polish parliamentary elections, which had enabled this coalition to prevail over the sovereignist PiS party in autumn 2023. Twice in her speech, she asserted that building “broad coalitions” enables “the centre [of the political spectrum] to hold firm against the extremes”. Mrs von der Leyen stressed the importance of mobilising young voters so that they turn out for the European elections in June.
The lead candidate for the ‘European People’s Party’ (EPP) thus qualifies remarks she made during the Maastricht Debate, in which she had not ruled out the possibility of forming a majority in the European Parliament around her person that would include certain elements from the ECR—the sovereignist group to which Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia party belongs (see EUROPE 13402/17).
Along with the Greek New Democracy party, Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform party supported the EPP’s nomination of the current president of the European Commission in readiness for the [EPP] Congress in Bucharest. On Monday, the European Commission announced its intention to close the so-called ‘Article 7 TEU’ procedure on respect for the rule of law in EU Member States (see EUROPE 13405/1).
Mrs von der Leyen reiterated that for pro-European forces, the challenge of the elections consists in resisting enemies on the outside and their “puppets” on the inside who want to divide them. “It is about protecting our values and standing for the rule of law and media freedom,” she added.
Defence. Noting Katowice’s proximity to Ukraine, Mrs von der Leyen reiterated how important it is for Europeans to strengthen their military capabilities. With regard to defence, she indicated, “Europe must spend more, spend better, spend European.” She specified that if elected to head the European Commission for a second term, she would present Defence Projects of Common European Interest (DPCEI) in order to ensure that “major projects”—which would be supervised by a European Commissioner for Defence—are developed, launched, and deployed in the EU.
See Mrs von der Leyen’s speech: https://aeur.eu/f/c46 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)