Germany's populist BSW to vote with the right against von der Leyen

Germany's populist BSW wants to vote with right-wing parties against the European Commission under President Ursula von der Leyen in a vote of no confidence in the European Parliament next week.

The motion of censure was brought forward by Romanian right-wing EU lawmaker Gheorghe Piperea.

The two-page document accuses the commission of a lack of transparency and mismanagement, particularly with regard to the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"As BSW, we will vote in favour of the motion of censure, even though we do not agree with every detail and the motion is mainly supported by right-wing forces whose values and policies we do not share," said Fabio De Masi, spokesman for the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) delegation in the European Parliament. The BSW currently has five of the 720 seats.

There is also support for the motion from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

"Von der Leyen's dismissal is long overdue," said AfD MEP Petr Bystron. This has so far been prevented by a left-wing majority, he said. "Of course we as the AfD support the vote of no confidence."

De Masi said it was "pathetic" that the majority of the European Parliament did not want to discuss what he termed von der Leyen's "breaches of the law in the Pfizer affair."

He charged that she also disempowered the European Parliament with regard to "armament goals" and ignored what he called "breaches of international law in Gaza and the attack on Iran."

If the motion of censure is passed, the European Commission would have to resign as a whole. However, such a scenario is considered unlikely because it would require a majority of two thirds of the votes cast and a majority of the Members of Parliament.