Thread by @SputnikInt

🚨 IS URSULA THE EU PRESIDENT? VON DER LEYEN'S POWER GRAB 🚨

The European Commission chief is using crises to centralize power. From defense to healthcare, she’s tightening her grip on the bloc. Let’s break it down. (1/9)🧵👇

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🇪🇺 Since 2019, von der Leyen has pushed for a "stronger EU", insisting it must "learn the language of power" But her moves look more like a power grab, shifting control from member states to Brussels. ⚖️

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🦠 COVID-19 gave her the chance to centralize healthcare, forcing EU nations to pay for vaccine contracts she negotiated—leading to the Pfizergate corruption scandal. 💉💰 Critics say she personally benefited from the deal.

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🔥 The Ukraine conflict and energy crisis gave her another opening. Using anti-Russia sanctions as a pretext, she seized control of the LNG trade, becoming the key player in Europe’s energy decisions. 🛢⚡️

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💣 Simultaneously, she expanded EU defense powers, pushing EDIRPA—a $324M weapons-buying program—to control military procurement. 🏛 She justified it by calling Russia a "threat". 🔫

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🇺🇸 When Donald Trump clashed with the EU over Ukraine, von der Leyen used it to demand a "surge in EU defense spending", further centralizing military decisions under her control.💥

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💰 In 2024, she tightened access to the $1.25T EU budget for 2028 to 2034, increasing her power over funding for farming, housing, and other sectors—giving Brussels even more leverage over member states. 🪙

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⚠️ Dissent is crushed:

🔹 $23.5B in EU funds for Hungary remain frozen over Orbán’s opposition. ❌

🔹 German MEP Christine Anderson’s mic was cut off mid-speech when she exposed Pfizergate. 🎙🔇

🔹 She reduced the number of Commission spokespeople to control the narrative. 🗞

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🔍 EU leaders like Orbán and Fico warn that von der Leyen is overstepping her mandate, acting as an unelected ruler. Is she reshaping the EU into her own power hub? What’s next?

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