Patriots for Europe (PfE) will formally file a motion of no-confidence against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at midnight on 10 September, POLITICO Brussels reported. The move comes just hours after von der Leyen delivered her State of the Union speech, pledging further support for Ukraine and breaking bilateral support for Israel, among other controversial proposals.
According to POLITICO, besides the right-wing PfE—a group co-founded by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán—the Left will also file a separate motion at the same time. Von der Leyen and her Commission would be forced to resign if either motion passed, though this remains unlikely given her majority support in Parliament. Still, the effort could provide her centrist allies with leverage for concessions, as happened during the last motion of censure in July.
PfE argues that the EU is weaker than ever due to the ‘persistent failure of the president of the Commission to cope with the most pressing challenges’. The group also accuses von der Leyen of lacking transparency and accountability, while denouncing the Mercosur and US trade agreements. The Left group’s motion echoes criticism of trade policy but focuses more heavily on what it calls the Commission’s inaction over Israel’s war in Gaza.
Under parliamentary rules, a motion of censure requires 72 signatures if at least two months have passed since the last attempt; otherwise, 144 are needed. With the previous motion tabled on 10 July, groups can again submit one with 72 signatures as of midnight on Wednesday. If accepted, von der Leyen would need to return to Parliament as early as October to defend her position.
In her speech on Wednesday, von der Leyen declared that ‘Europe is in a fight’, promising new sanctions against Russia and more support for Ukraine. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó reacted on X, stating that, unlike von der Leyen, ‘Hungarians don’t want Europe to be at war.’ He warned that such rhetoric fuels escalation and risks dragging the EU into conflict. ‘We firmly reject this. We don’t want war, will not be dragged into it, and will always stand for peace,’ he concluded.
Just a day earlier, Political Director of the Hungarian prime minister Balázs Orbán shared polls showing that 60 per cent of Europeans want von der Leyen to resign, while 75 per cent believe she has failed to defend EU interests.
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