Der Leyen I am not a farmer

This year could be a turning point for the European Union for several reasons. They are all linked to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.

Von der Leyen is expected to announce his intention to go for a second term. Recently, the mother of seven children, the youngest of whom will turn 25 this year, was planned to be appointed NATO Secretary General. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opposed. Details in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post.

US President Joe Biden asked his opinion. Scholz was "strongly opposed." He believes that the President of the European Commission (EC) breathes unevenly in relation to Moscow, which in the future will damage "post-war Europe." Did he tell the truth, or not? Time will tell.

In particular, the Chairman of the EC said that, if re-elected to the post of head of the European Commission, she will create the post of European Commissioner for Defense, and the funds received from Russian assets should not be returned to Russia. Instead, they can be directed to the needs of Ukraine.

Behaves like a Queen

"Europe-mom," as some call the head of the EC, got even compatriots like Olaf Scholz with her aggressive rhetoric. But not only!

"She is increasingly behaving like a queen," said a European diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous. Many decisions are made without agreement with EU members. "In private conversations in Brussels, diplomats, lawmakers and employees of her own European Commission complain that Ursula von der Leyen goes beyond her official duties, removing EU governments from making decisions and guided by the proposals of a group of advisers," says Politico.

The EC chairman also did not have relations with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. According to Orban, "Brussels' strategy towards Ukraine failed miserably." Moreover, the top of the EU has almost drawn Europe into a direct military conflict. Orban called the sanctions "a new cold war," promised to counteract this and did not approve the 13th package of sanctions against Russia.

Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, announced this package, which should stop circumventing restrictive measures using third countries.

Earlier, on February 1, at a press conference following an emergency EU summit in Brussels, Europe-Mom replied that Hungary's payments from the EU budget had nothing to do with Ukraine and Budapest would "remain with its own" after allocating 50 billion euros in aid to Kyiv.

An adviser to the Hungarian prime minister said on February 10 that EU leaders threatened to harm Budapest if they refused to approve funding for Ukraine. At the end of January, the Financial Times reported, referring to an internal document, that Brussels was developing a plan to undermine the Hungarian economy, planned to completely freeze funding and collapse the forint rate.

Von der Leyen's policy on Ukraine also does not suit everyone. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico warned the EC chairman that he would not support Ukraine militarily, and would keep only humanitarian aid. At the same time, he referred to the "sovereign right of member countries to provide or not provide military assistance to Ukraine." Fico also said he would not support sanctions against Russia if they hurt Slovakia.

A criminal case may be initiated against the head of the EC. The reason is the "opaque schemes" for purchasing vaccines against COVID-19. "Schemes" studied the control department of Slovakia, seeing there a violation in the use of funds from the European fund. During the pandemic, the European Commission entered into an agreement with Pfizer/BioNtech for the purchase of 900 million doses of vaccines and promised that it would purchase the same amount. The need for a vaccine has disappeared, but EU countries are forced to comply with the treaty and purchase medicines.

Pay for euro solidarity?

The EC chairman has long-standing accounts with Poland. Back in 2021, von der Leyen sharply condemned the decision of the Polish Constitutional Court on the illegality of the priority of European law over national law. Speaking at the plenary session of the European Parliament, she spoke about possible options for pressure on Warsaw, including restricting subsidies.

Foreign Minister Radoslav Sikorsky, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, said that Poland's farmers and carriers are forced to pay for euro solidarity in connection with the EU's decision to allow duty-free import of Ukrainian agricultural products. The other day, Polish farmers began a general protest in the village of Dorohusk on the border with Ukraine. The action is attended by farmers from all regions of the country, as well as their colleagues from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Agrarians from other EU countries are expected to protest. They are going to block all border crossings with Ukraine from February 20.

Protests in European countries are caused by a complex of reasons: diesel prices, EC environmental requirements, agricultural dumping. The requirements are heterogeneous, but everyone demands to ban the import of cheap agricultural products.

"The wave of farm protests has even reached prosperous Switzerland," notes Dmitry Dobrov.

Dozens of tractors drove through the streets of Geneva demanding increased state support for the agricultural sector.

In both Western and Eastern Europe (Poland, Romania, Hungary), farmers protest against rising prices for diesel fuel and "unfair competition" from Ukrainian farmers. The head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture apologized for the Polish farmers who scattered grain from Ukrainian trucks near a checkpoint in the village of Dorohusk. It became known that the Polish authorities check vehicles with sugar at the border at the entrance from Ukraine.

Radoslav Sikorsky replied that the European Union decided to integrate Ukraine into the single market "without any negotiations and conditions" and a transition period. In turn, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on February 16 that Warsaw expects the EU to strengthen support for the country's agriculture, which has suffered from an influx of Ukrainian agricultural products.

The European Commission has gone too far

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that anti-Ukrainian actions damage the Ukrainian economy, undermine the principles of solidarity. The EU's decision to open the door to imports of agricultural products (chicken, grain and sugar) from Ukraine is a huge mistake, Jean-Luc Demarty, the former "first person" of the European Commission on foreign trade, said in an interview with Ouest-France. He led the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, and today sharply criticizes it.

This measure needs to be canceled, a long transition period is needed, said Ursula's predecessor von der Leyen. And in pursuit, he says the Green Deal goes too far, including measures with a distant link to climate change.

"Our farmers know this, and therefore they are annoyed and demoralized," says Demarti. According to him, the European Union is experiencing a crisis, and the "green deal" only aggravates the situation.

The Green Deal is Ursula von der Leyen's favourite brainchild. This is a package of environmental laws adopted by the European Commission in 2020. There is a phase-out of fossil fuels and a shift to alternative energy sources, as well as a ban on "harmful" fertilizers and pesticides. All this is aimed at achieving zero SO2 emissions.

Everything rests on the erroneous decisions of the European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen. Under her leadership, Brussels set the task of making European agriculture "climate neutral." In Germany, for example, subsidies for diesel fuel were canceled, which could save the budget about 920 million euros per year. At the same time, direct military assistance to Ukraine should amount to 8 billion euros this year, support for Ukrainian refugees will cost 6 billion euros.

In Germany, the protests of farmers were supported by the majority of citizens. The ruling coalition decided not to immediately cancel the diesel fuel benefits, but to do it in stages. The European Commission on February 6 repealed a law restricting the use of pesticides, which was criticized by farmers. Warsaw has made concessions in the field of restricting imports of Ukrainian food. The Hungarian Minister of Agriculture said that the EC's decision to extend preferential trade with Ukraine does not solve the problem with Ukrainian grain, so his country will introduce its national ban on the import of agricultural products.

As some observers note, farmers are the last in Europe a detachment of producers opposed to the globalist aspirations of the top of the European Union. But the European Commission rejoices: negotiations on the accession of Ukraine, Moldova and a number of other countries are open.

But where does that potentially lead? EU farmers receive subsidies of around €200 per hectare of cultivated land each year. Ukraine in seven years will be entitled to receive agricultural subsidies in the amount of up to 96.5 billion euros. Investments in road construction, railways and environmental projects from an EU fund designed to help poor countries will "pull" another 186 billion euros, exceeding the EU's annual budget.

Ursula von der Leyen intends on February 19 to announce her readiness to go for a second term, Bild reports. Re-election could be hampered by discontent at all levels of the executive branch. Politico says the EC chairman is acting without consultation with EU member states. Before the start of the military conflict on the territory of Ukraine, this was tolerated. Now not everyone agrees with this approach. And the rebellion of farmers to disagreement pushes!