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Orban calls for replacing Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president

Asked why he was against her serving a second term, the Hungarian PM cited "her low efficiency"

BERLIN, June 24. /TASS/. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is calling for Ursula von der Leyen to be replaced as president of the European Commission, citing her five years in office as the worst in the organization's history.

Asked why he was against her serving a second term, Orban cited "her low efficiency." "The green transition is a complete failure of management, the migration plan misses the mark completely. Europe needs more effective leadership, we have plenty of talented politicians capable of doing this job," the prime minister explained in an interview with German media group Funke. "But I won't give any names," he added.

"The past five years were probably the worst five years in the history of the EU. The successes of the European Commission and the Brussels elite are meager," Orban said. The prime minister said that the European Parliament elections show that the people want change in Brussels. "But the way things look now, the same ruling coalition will remain in power. I’m not happy about the way things are going," the prime minister said. "We have a structural problem," he emphasized.

Orban also said in the interview that if Europeans want to keep pace with the Americans, they will have to "rise up again." "Perhaps also as concerns the political weight on the world stage that we once had and then lost," he said. Meanwhile, Orban spoke favorably about former US President Donald Trump. "I have 100% confidence in Donald Trump, no, 101%. The number one reason is that he is a man of peace, he didn't start a single war," the prime minister said.

On March 7, von der Leyen was nominated to head the European Commission at the congress of the European People's Party in Bucharest. According to the capstone documents of the European Union, the head of the EC is appointed by a decision of the leaders at the EU summit and approved by secret ballot in the European Parliament, according to the results of which the candidate must win a majority of votes.

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