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EU chief Ursula von der Leyen faces a confidence vote. Hungary's leader says she must go

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen faces a confidence vote. Hungary's leader says she must go

BRUSSELS: European Union lawmakers will hold a confidence vote Thursday on the head of the bloc's powerful executive arm, Ursula von der Leyen, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán leading calls for her to be ousted.
The censure motion, the first at the European Parliament in over a decade, was brought against the European Commission president by a group of hard-right lawmakers. To pass, it requires a two-thirds majority vote in favor.
Von der Leyen could be forced to resign if she loses, but she is virtually guaranteed to win as most of the political groups in the assembly have signaled they would vote against the motion. She is not expected to attend the vote in Strasbourg, France.
The motion contains a mix of allegations against von der Leyen including text messaging privately with the boss of COVID-19 vaccine maker Pfizer, misuse of EU funds and interference in elections in Germany and Romania.
Orbán said on Facebook that the vote "will be the moment of truth: on one side the imperial elite in Brussels, on the other patriots and common sense. There is no getting out of it, it is essential to make a choice."
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