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Von Der Leyen was referring to the recommendation of an EC commission to suspend payment to Hungary of 7.5 billion euros from European funds to revive the economy after the pandemic. The EC recommended it due to Hungary’s insufficient efforts in fighting corruption.
The EC introduced similar financial sanctions two years ago in response to what she believed amounted to undermining democracy in Poland and Hungary.
However, the words of Ursula von der Leyen were met with a knife in Italy. They have been seen as an open threat to the parties of the right-wing conservative electoral bloc that are expected to win the Italian elections on Sunday.
The right in Italy read von der Leyen’s words as a threat and promised her that her MEPs would introduce a no-confidence vote against her.
“What is this, is it a threat?” the leader of the “Lega” party Matteo Salvini replied on the social network. “Respect for the free, democratic and sovereign vote of the Italian people”, he added.
“It was a vile threat. An unwanted intrusion. This lady represents all Europeans, her salary is paid by all of us and she was a disgusting and arrogant threat,” Salvini said.
He said his party’s MEPs in the European Parliament will present a no-confidence motion to Von der Leyen.
“On Sunday the Italians vote, not the Brussels bureaucrats, if I were the president of the European Commission I would be more worried about energy bills,” Salvini said.
The prospect of an Italian government led by Giorgia Meloni worries Brussels, especially for the delicate issue of sanctions against Moscow, but diplomats and experts do not see how Rome would risk rejecting the huge aid promised by the EU.
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