Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union speech is just the most recent example of turning a blind eye to the EU's own budding autocrats and the EU's democratic deficit more broadly (Photo: European Parliament)

What von der Leyen's 'State of Union' didn't mention

Rule of Law

EU Political

Opinion

by Alvaro Oleart & Tom Theuns, Leiden/Maastricht,

Unsurprisingly, the State of the Union speech by EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen opened with reflections on the brutal invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.

Rightly, powerfully, and with Olena Zelenska as a guest of honour in the European Parliament, von der Leyen said that the war against Ukraine was a war on European values, a war on our collective future.

About "democracy ...

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Rule of Law EU Political Opinion

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Tom Theuns is assistant professor of political theory and European politics at Leiden University, associate researcher at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics at Sciences Po, Paris. Alvaro Oleart is a postdoctoral researcher at Studio Europa Maastricht and the Department of Political Science of Maastricht University.