EU chief faces confidence vote

European Union lawmakers organise a vote of confidence against the chief of the European bloc Thursday, Ursula von der Leyen, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is at the helm of calls for its collapse.

This vote, the first of its kind in the European Parliament in over a decade, has been organised by far-right lawmakers. Two-thirds of the majority votes are needed to pass.

Von der Leyen may be forced to resign if he loses, though his victory is almost guaranteed because most political groups have given signals that they will vote against. She is not expected to participate in the vote in Strasbourg, France.

The motion consists of a host of allegations against von der Leyeen, including private messages with the Pfizer factory chief who has produced anti-commercil vaccines, misuse of EU funds and interference in elections in Germany and Romania.

Orban has said through a Facebook post that the “vote will be the moment of truth, on the one hand it will be the imperialist elite of Brussels, in the other, patriots. It is essential to make a solution”.

Vice President, the core of your leader is responsibility. It's time to leave!

The EU chief has often had disagreements with Orban because of his actions in Budapest that have damaged democracy. Therefore, the European Commission has frozen its access to billions of euros in EU funds.

This vote has paved the way for much criticism of late der Leyenit, who has been at the helm of the EU initiative to find vaccines for nearly 450 million people during the pandemic, but also for its European People's Party, which constitutes the largest political group in parliament. / REL/