Two of the six Cypriot MEPs said they would support the European Council's proposal for Ursula von der Leyen to continue leading the European Commission. Another three have declared that they will vote against it, while one more is concerned.
Lukas Fourlas and Michalis Hadjipantela, MEPs from the EPP, said they would support Ursula von der Leyen's candidacy. Mr Hadjipandela, speaking to reporters, said he had heard Ms von der Leyen's views and was persuaded.
She noted that as far as immigration is concerned, her positions regarding Cyprus "are excellent", while she referred to her visit to Lebanon, after which, as she said, the migration flows to Cyprus stopped. He also added that regarding the agricultural sector, Mrs. von der Leyen listened to the concerns of the EPP MEPs and promised that the new Commissioner for agricultural policy issues will be from the EPP and will be related to the subject.
The third area that Mr. Hatzipantela touched on was the common defense policy. As she said, Mrs. von der Leyen's primary goal is to have a common EU defense umbrella, with the creation of a Defense Commissioner's portfolio, while the EU's goal is to become a common market for weapon systems to protect the entire EU.
He also noted the risk of instability for Europe and Cyprus in particular, in a possible vote against her, as well as the fact that if she is not elected, the agreement between the political groups to share the leadership positions of the EU is overturned.
George Georgiou, MEP of the Left, said he would not vote for Ms von der Leyen. As he said, Mrs. von der Leyen is accused by the EU itself, Mr. Borrell and her own party, the EPP, that in the case of Palestine she behaved "in a careless and single-minded way, seeing only the side of Israel" .
In addition, he touched on the issues of poverty, housing, health, education. "Here again Mrs. von der Leyen is accused of ordering €35 billion of vaccines, far from legal procedures, of which €4 million of vaccines were never used and were destroyed," he said, noting that "it's a terrible waste. When it comes to the farmers he says I have no money to give you.
He also referred to the green transition, which he said Ms. von der Leyen in 2019 was touting as her big bet. "Go back, the war, the weapons, the NATOization of Europe are ahead," he said.
Finally, he added that on the rise of the far-right in Europe, Mrs. von der Leyen was "not overly emotional" when she appealed to the ECR "and other far-rights to vote for her to be elected", noting that the far-right finds fertile ground in the neoliberal policies that she follows.
For his part, the MEP of the Socialists and Democrats, Costas Mavridis, based on the data up to Thursday, when he spoke to journalists, said that the expectation is that he will not vote for Mrs. von der Leyen. “I could hide it, since the vote is secret and my team will support it. But I preferred to be honest", he said.
He did, however, convey the concern of part of the group of Socialists and Democrats, as to what the alternative option will be, in the event that Mrs. von der Leyen is not upvoted.
The unregistered MEP, Phidias Panagiotou, said that he conducted an online vote on whether or not he should support the candidacy of Ursula von der Leyen. As he told KYPE, 300.000 people voted, of which 85% are European citizens. 75%, he said, do not want Ursula von der Leyen. "Don't you think it's strange that she's going to come out when people don't want her?"
Asked if he will follow the result of the online vote, he said that "whatever the poll told me I will do". Asked for his own opinion on the matter, he said that he would not want to vote for it either. Answering what he would do if he himself had a positive view of her candidacy, he said that then he would not do the online voting.
He also added that in this way "I wanted to show that people don't want her". "Pheidias is making a strategic move" to hit von der Leyen, he said.
The MEP of the Conservatives and Reformists, Geadis Geadis, stated that he is oriented to vote against her candidacy, although he is still deeply concerned. He said the ECR group was moving towards voting against it, giving freedom to each member to decide based on their national interests.
He himself is moving towards a no-vote, as he disagrees with her policy, but he is worried about who will be the next nominee, about the instability he will mediate, while he is also worried about the fact that the government has access to Mrs. von der Laien, something that is not taken for granted for the next nominee.