Von der Leyen will back AD’s campaign in Portugal on June 6
One of the focal points of the campaigns of Portugal’s political parties for the upcoming European elections has been Ursula Von der Leyen, who is looking to be re-elected as president of the European Commission.
The topic has been gaining momentum since it was confirmed that Von der Leyen will be travelling to Portugal next week to participate in AD’s (Aliança Democrática) campaign.
“President Ursula von der Leyen, whose bid AD supports, has been at the side of the Portuguese during inflation, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, so obviously, it’s a visit that gives us credit,” said Sebastião Bugalho, AD’s candidate for the European elections.
His statement came on the sidelines of a visit to the fruit market in Caldas da Rainha where he was asked about the criticisms of other campaigns regarding Von der Leyen’s participation in the AD campaign on Thursday, June 6.
One of the main criticisms has been Von der Leyen’s alleged willingness to accept support from more extremist right-wing parties.
Asked if the European leader’s red lines are not too blurred in relation to the far right, Sebastião Bugalho said he trusted Von der Leyen’s assurances and took the opportunity to repeat those of the AD.
“Defence of the rule of law, defence of human rights and defence of Ukraine and Ukrainian freedom,” he stressed, adding that “the Portuguese have reason to trust” that AD keeps its word on red lines, in a reference to the “no is no” guarantee that AD would not team up with Chega following the recent legislative elections.
“There is no reason for extremism to be part of the European leadership process. I see no reason why the European Socialists should not support someone they have praised for so long, including former Prime Minister António Costa,” he said, again accusing the Socialists of having changed their minds because there are European elections.
Meanwhile, the head of the PS list for the European elections said on Friday that she was concerned about Ursula von der Leyen’s openness to support from more conservative parties on the European right, emphasising that her political project does not represent them.
“It’s not at all the line along which we believe we need to move the European project forward, and that worries us a lot,” said Marta Temido, who kicked off the fifth day of campaigning in Castelo Branco, where she lived for part of her childhood.
In a parade through the heart of the city, Marta Temida told journalists that Ursula von der Leyen had played an important role “in a series of responses related to a different way of responding to the pandemic and the energy crisis”.
“But there are other dimensions, in social terms, in which Von der Leyen’s political project does not represent us,” she said.
According to the former health minister, what the national PS stands for is in line with the proposals of Nicolas Schmit, the European Socialists’ candidate for president of the European Commission.
“He’s very concerned about housing, employment, better salaries, the balance between the digital and green transitions and what people’s incomes are, in agriculture, companies and families,” she said.
Von der Leyen has also been criticised from other parties from both sides of the political spectrum.
André Ventura, leader of far-right party Chega, stated on Thursday that Ursula von der Leyen “represents everything” his party opposes and that “he feels relieved not to have these people in the campaign.”
“Ursula Von der Leyen represents everything we fight against in the European Union, from the disastrous management the EU had during COVID-19, which is being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, with contracts either fraudulent or suspected of severe money diversion, and in which Ursula von der Leyen herself refused to disclose messages she had exchanged with major pharmaceutical companies as part of this investigation,” he said. The leader of Chega was speaking to journalists at the start of a visit to a fair in Elvas, Portalegre district, as part of the European elections campaign.
“Ursula von der Leyen represents two things we will never accept: uncontrolled immigration knocking on Europe’s door, of which she is one of the main faces, alongside former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and a huge incapacity to fight corruption,” he emphasized. “She is a person who has been involved in a series of issues”
João Cotrim Figueiredo, the lead candidate of the Liberal Initiative (IL) for the European elections, said he doubts that the presence of Von der Leyen in the AD campaign is an “electoral asset,” given “she doesn’t have a particularly positive image” among the Portuguese.
In the opinion of the IL lead candidate, Von der Leyen does not have “a very positive image” because, at this point, “her merit and electoral value are questionable.”
Speaking for CDU, the coalition featuring Portugal’s Communist Party (PCP), João Oliveira argued that Von der Leyen “is behind so many decisions, political orientations, that have harmed the Portuguese, seeking to hold down wages, limit investment in public services, seeking to hinder investment in housing or health”.
“Mrs Von der Leyen is the embodiment of all these policies that have harmed the people and the country, and so her presence in the AD also shows the Portuguese that it is not in the AD, in the liberals, in the far right, or even in the socialists – who have aligned themselves in many circumstances with the European Commission – that the solution to the problems lies,” he said.
