Von der Leyen: Europeans must ‘look at ourselves and be proud’

Brussels – “Look at ourselves and be proud of ourselves.” Ursula von der Leyen shows a burst of European pride during a live interview she gave yesterday (11 December) to the online newspaper POLITICO on the occasion of her annual party in Brussels, of which she was the guest of honour. 

In recent days, Washington has issued all kinds of anti‑European and pro‑Russian attacks, in which the Trump Administration accuses Union leaders of being “weak” (perhaps because they lack the courage to bow to Moscow?) and destined for an inglorious end.

“From the bottom of my heart, I am a convinced transatlanticist,” von der Leyen said last night in response to these comments. “But what is so important? [What’s] important is that … we take pride in being the European Union, that we look at our strength and that we deal with the challenges that we do have.“

The President of the European Commission admitted that “our relationship to the United States has changed. Why? Because we are changing. And this is so important that we keep in mind: what is our position? What is our strength? Let’s work on these. Let’s take pride in that. Let’s stand up for a unified Europe. This is our task … [to] look at ourselves and be proud of ourselves​,” said von der Leyen, to the applause of the selected audience. 

The President of the United States personally denounced Europe as composed of “decaying” nations led by “weak” people in an interview with Dasha Burns of POLITICO.

Von der Leyen, however, is also concerned about the consequences of these actions and recalls the frequent attempts by the US to interfere in elections in third countries. “It is not on us, when it comes to elections, to decide who the leader of the country will be, but on the people of this country,” said the president when interviewed during the POLITICO 28 gala event. “That’s the sovereignty of the voters, and this must be protected. Nobody else is supposed to interfere, without any question.”