"We believe in the dignity of every human being and that is what we will fight for in this election. And today this is more important than ever."
The president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen said this in her candidacy speech at the EPP Congress.
"Today Putin's friends are sowing hatred. Our peaceful and united Europe has never been so threatened by extremists and populists, from the far right or far left, from parties such as the Rassemblement Nationale or the AfD", he said.
"
It is Europe that decides who enters or cannot enter and under what conditions
, it is not the traffickers who decide," said von der Leyen.
“Prosperity, security, democracy, this is what people care about and this is what we will deal with,” she underlined.
"Putin is responsible for the death of Alexei Navalny. And it was touching to see the people who came to his funeral.
Putin is destroying his country to save himself
" highlighted von der Leyen underlining: "there is no doubt, Europe will stand by Ukraine as long as necessary. Russia is destroying buildings and infrastructure but it has not killed the dream of a democratic Ukraine and Europe."
EU Socialists: 'Our approval for von der Leyen is not guaranteed'
"Our support for Ursula von der Leyen is not guaranteed. If the EPP wins the elections we will negotiate the program, but we are ready to do everything necessary to prevent the right from dictating the agenda of the next commission."
This was stated by the president of the Group of Socialists and Democrats, the Spanish Iratxe Garcia Perez.
"We will defend our positions but we will not support anyone who does not accept our priorities," explained Garcia Perez speaking to the press in Brussels.
The German CDU: 'We will defend Europe from populists and extremists'
"Our leadership today is more important than ever. We must defend European values from extremists and populists, who want to dismantle the EU and who play into Russia's hands."
This was stated by the leader of the CDU, Friedrich Merz, speaking at the Congress of the European People's Party in Bucharest.
"We must focus on the competitiveness of our industry and on job creation. And we must help Ukraine win the war, because Kiev is not only fighting for its freedom but for the freedom of all of us", explained Merz, then presenting the candidacy of Ursula von der Leyen: "you have shown leadership and you have demonstrated that you are the president of everyone's Commission", underlined Merz, inviting everyone to vote for the outgoing president as Spitenkandidaten.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA