EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faced legal action for defamation from several MEPs who were allegedly targeted in an attempt to undermine her administration.
In a dramatic turn of events, Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea, a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), has taken legal action against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for defamation.
The lawsuit stems from von der Leyen's remarks during a no-confidence debate, where she implied Piperea was taking orders from Russia. In the debate, von der Leyen labeled Piperea and other signatories as '[Russian President Vladimir] Putin's friends,' 'extremists,' and propagators of 'conspiracy theories.'
Piperea claims von der Leyen's comments included such labeling and accuses the Commission of making the EU's decision-making process 'opaque and discretionary,' raising 'fears of abuse and corruption.' The lawsuit was filed under the claim that von der Leyen's remarks were defamatory and damaged Piperea's reputation.
The motion of no-confidence filed by Piperea was in response to 'secret texts from 2021' between von der Leyen and Albert Bourla, the chief executive of Pfizer. During the debate, von der Leyen described Piperea's arguments as 'right from the oldest playbook of extremists.'
Interestingly, Manfred Weber, president of von der Leyen's center-right European People's Party, referred to the signatories of the motion as 'puppets of Putin,' while Iratxe García, the chair of the Socialists and Democrats, also referred to Piperea and the signatories as allies of Putin.
However, there is no specific information available in the search results about individuals who received support from President Vladimir Putin in July 2021 based on statements by Manfred Weber and Iratxe García.
The case has been filed at the EU Court of Justice, which is yet to rule on its admissibility. Defamation cases are usually handled by national courts, but Piperea is using an article of the treaty founding the EU as legal basis. The article states the EU needs to 'make good any damage caused by its institutions or by its servants in the performance of their duties.'
The EU Court of Justice's ruling on this case could potentially set a precedent for similar lawsuits against EU officials. Meanwhile, the Commission has declined to comment on the matter.
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