European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has publicly warned Donald Trump against interfering in Europe's internal affairs, saying that the US President "should not interfere in European democracy." Her words were a direct response to the recent wave of harsh criticism of European policy coming from Washington. This is reported by Politico.
"When it comes to elections, to decide who the leader of the country will be, but on the people of this country... That’s the sovereignty of the voters, and this must be protected," von der Leyen said.
Von der Leyen's statement was a response to a question about the US National Security Strategy, which contains a controversial statement that Europe is facing "civilizational destruction" over the next 20 years. It should be noted that this thesis is actively used by extreme right-wing leaders, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as well as by russian propaganda.
The American document also criticizes Europe's attempts to limit the activities of extreme right-wing parties, which the authors of the Strategy consider as a form of "political censorship." That is why, according to von der Leyen, the EU has proposed the Democracy Shield project to strengthen protection against foreign interference in the Internet and elections. Although the head of the European Commission noted that her relations with American leaders are "very good," she summarized: Europe should focus on itself, not on comparing itself to others.
"From the bottom of my heart, I’m a convinced transatlanticist. But what is so important? [What’s] important is that … we take pride in being the European Union, that we look at our strength and that we deal with the challenges that we do have. Of course, our relationship to the United States has changed. Why? Because we are changing. And this is so important that we keep in mind: what is our position? What is our strength? Let’s work on these. Let’s take pride in that. Let’s stand up for a unified Europe. This is our task … [to] look at ourselves and be proud of ourselves," Ursula von der Leyen said.
The publication also recalls that President Trump recently gave an interview to Politico on Tuesday, where he condemned Europe, calling it a "declining" group of countries led by "weak" people.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after talking to Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that in peace talks Ukraine should be provided with long-term security guarantees that will become the EU's "first line of defense."
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