BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2019) German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is a top candidate for the position of the new European Commission president bur her nomination is subject to widespread criticism both in the European Union and Germany.
On Wednesday evening, von der Leyen presented herself to several groups in the European parliament. The vote for or against her candidacy will take place on July 16th in Strasbourg.
The first contact was not very convincing to satisfy the Greens and the Socialists. The Greens, through the voice of their president, Belgium's Philippe Lamberts, declared that they would not support von der Leyen. As for the Socialists, their attitude is not clear yet, but von der Leyen's candidacy is widely criticized among the Socialists, though she is officially supported by the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is a coalition partner of the CDU, headed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Far-left political forces, including Germany's Die Linke, as well as both euroskeptic groups in the European Parliament have also refused to support von der Leyen.
However, von der Leyen still has good chances to become the president of the European Commission if gets the votes of the European People's Party (EPP), Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and at least a part of the Socialists.
Nicola Beer, a liberal member of the European Parliament from the German Free Democratic Party (FDP) told Sputnik that the party would give a chance to von der Leyen despite the fact that she was not an ideal candidate from their point of view.
"She will be given a fair chance by the Free Democrats, but we have a whole series of questions without answers yet. She was not the most suitable candidate. We would have preferred the Danish Liberal Margrethe Vestager, but expect from von der Leyen that she immediately organizes a large conference on the necessary reform of the EU, chaired by Parliament, including civil society," Beer said.
CRITICISM OF VON DER LEYEN'S NOMINATION
Von der Leyen's nomination for the president of the European Commission was a surprise as she has never worked in European institutions.
The top candidate of the Christian Democratic EPP was its leader Manfred Weber but his candidacy was not supported by French President Emmanuel Macron, according to Gilles Lebreton, member of the European Parliament from the French right-wing National Rally. He pointed out that during last month's G20 Summit in Osaka Merkel, Macron along with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had agreed on the candidacy of von der Leyen.
"The way things happened is actually contempt for the European institutions ... The Christian Democrats, the Socialists and the European Commission itself had solemnly declared that they wanted a 'Spitzenkandidaten' [frontrunner] system in place, where each group presented their top candidate," Lebreton said.
He described the nomination of von der Leyen as non-democratic.
"Even [outgoing European Commission President] Jean-Claude Juncker said the process to nominate him in 2014 was more democratic than now," Lebreton noted.
Not even the Germans themselves are happy with the surprise nomination of von der Leyen. According to German poll institute Emnid, 71 percent of Germans want a German in that position but a majority, 53 percent, see her as a deception of voters. Even 51 percent of the CDU affiliates don not think she fits the job and do not find her nomination process transparent.
The criticism is even harsher among opponents of Merkel, including the Alternative for Germany (AfD) euroskeptic party.
"We, at AfD, would certainly tolerate a German Christian Democrat as president Commission President, if he/she is conservative, closes the Mediterranean migration route and opposes further development of unwanted EU authority. It is evident that Ursula von der Leyen is not such a person and will fail in her task, just as she failed as Labour Minister and above all as Minister of Defense," Joerg Meuthen, member of the European Parliament and AfD co-chairman, told Sputnik.
Critics of von der Leyen explain their opposition to her nomination with her failures at the post of the German defense minister.
VON DER LEYEN'S 5 YEARS AS DEFENSE MINISTER
Von der Leyen has been the German defense minister for more than five years, since December 2013.
Following repeated reports, the state of the German weapons systems is appalling: tanks do not start, Navy ships are unseaworthy, and weapons do not function.
Her activities as the defense minister have been repeatedly criticized by both left-wing and right-wing German opposition parties. They were especially outraged by the minister's proposal to recruit foreigners in the German army in order to close the shortage of some 18,500 servicemen.
"As defence minister of Germany, Ursula von der Leyen has not solved a single problem for the Bundeswehr [German army] ... The exact qualifications of Ursula von der Leyen for the job of EU Commission President remain a mystery. We reject her nomination," Tobias Pflueger, Die Linke's deputy party chairman and defence policy spokesman, told Sputnik.
The same assessment of von der Leyen's policy is shared by the AfD.
"Ursula von der Leyen has shown during her more than 5 years at the ministry of defence, that she is at best a dilettante. She has not done anything worth mentioning! We have repeatedly called for her dismissal. Von der Leyen has not even presented any plan for a sustainable strategy to restore the readiness of the German armed forces for national and Alliance [NATO] defense," AfD Deputy Federal Spokesman Georg Pazderski told Sputnik.
On Thursday, Merkel admitted that the situation in the German ruling coalition was difficult over the SPD refusal to support the candidacy of von der Leyen.
