Von der Leyen, if Italy like Hungary we have tools

"We will see the result of the vote in Italy, there were also elections in Sweden. If things go in a difficult direction, we have tools, as in the case of Poland and Hungary".

The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said this in answering a question to Princeton about the possible result of the elections in Italy, given that, it was pointed out, among the candidates there are figures close to Putin. 

In a debate in Princeton, von der Leyen stressed that "democracy needs each of us, it is a constant job, it is never safe".

Speaking of the measures available to Europe to protect the rule of law, he cited the cases of Poland and Hungary, where there were problems with "the independence of the judiciary" and "corruption".

On the possible electoral result in Italy he added: "My approach is that we work with any democratic government that is willing to work with us. It is interesting to see the dynamics of the work of the European Council, there is not only one country that arrives. says 'I want, I want, I want', but suddenly you are in the Council and you realize that your future, and your well-being, also depends on the other 26 Member States. I know that sometimes we are slow and that we talk a lot, but that too it is the beauty of democracy. So we will see how these elections go: even the people, to whom governments must respond, play an important role ".