Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said European leaders led by Ursula von der Leyen agreed with President Zelenskyy to continue the war in Ukraine, warning that the conflict has no solution on the battlefield and is costing Europe heavily.
Behind closed doors in Zagreb, the European People’s Party outlined a vision for Europe that would dilute national sovereignty and turn the EU into an increasingly militarized organization anchored to long-term commitments for Ukraine. With Viktor Orbán standing as the main obstacle to this agenda, it is hardly surprising that Brussels is now heavily invested in unseating him ahead of Hungary’s April election.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faces her fourth no-confidence vote in six months on Thursday, after the right-wing Patriots for Europe tabled a new motion of censure. The vote follows a major setback for von der Leyen and the EPP, as the European Parliament sent the EU–Mercosur deal to the Court of Justice for legal review.
In an open letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia has called on the EU to abandon the dogmatic approach to climate policy and chase the net zero agenda for the sake of the struggling European industry, especially the automotive sector. The letter was co-signed by five other PMs, including Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Giorgia Meloni of Italy.
Nearly three years after Qatargate, Brussels is rocked by another major scandal: Belgian authorities have detained former EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini and top diplomat Stefano Sannino in a fraud probe involving the EU’s diplomatic academy. The probe is already fuelling calls for accountability at the highest levels of the Commission.
Elon Musk has publicly humiliated Ursula von der Leyen over the EU’s democratic deficit, replying to her post about the ‘European Democracy Shield’ by asking: ‘If democracy is the foundation of freedom, shouldn’t your position be elected by the people?’ The viral exchange reignited debate over the Commission’s legitimacy and growing centralization of power in Brussels.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned that Europe is on the brink of a new arms race and drifting toward war, urging Hungary to remain on the side of peace while outlining his government’s economic plans, including pension reforms and wage programmes.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen survived two separate censure motions in the European Parliament on Thursday, as mainstream factions once again shielded her from calls to resign. The right-wing Patriots for Europe and the Left had accused her of failures on trade, transparency and leadership, but both votes fell well short.
Just after Ursula von der Leyen vowed in Strasbourg that ‘Europe is in a fight’, she now faces no-confidence motions from both flanks: Patriots for Europe will table one at midnight, citing EU weakness and escalation in Ukraine, while the Left files separately, denouncing her Gaza inaction and trade agenda.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has demanded financial compensation from the European Commission for Hungary’s border protection efforts, telling Ursula von der Leyen that Budapest has blocked over a million illegal migrants since 2015 but has been fined instead of supported by Brussels.