None of Fianna Fáil’s four MEPs intend to vote for Ursula von der Leyen in the European Parliament when she seeks a second term as president of the European Commission.
Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher confirmed he would not vote for Ms von der Leyen despite having been open to reviewing his opposition if she apologised for her stance on Israel’s invasion of Gaza, as well as other issues.
His three party colleagues in the parliament — Barry Andrews, Barry Cowen and Cynthia Ní Mhurchú — also said they would not support Ms von der Leyen, who is the official European People’s Party candidate.
Fianna Fáil is a member of the centrist Renew Europe Group — Independent Ireland MEP Ciarán Mullooly and Independent MEP Michael McNamara are also members. The group is supporting Ms von der Leyen’s re-election bid.
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Mr McNamara said he would not support her nomination while Mr Mullooly said on Monday that he would not decide until after a meeting with Ms von der Leyen on Tuesday evening.
The stance of the Fianna Fáil MEPs has led to some friction with the party leadership and with Coalition partners Fine Gael. Tánaiste Micheál Martin has indicated that he as a member of the Government would support Ms von der Leyen’s nomination. He said immediately after the European elections that he would speak to his four MEPs about their intentions, but all have stuck to their positions.
Mr Kelleher said on Monday: “This is not a decision I have taken lightly but it is a decision I am comfortable taking based on her actions since October 7th but also equally the inaction of her commission since 2019 in standing up for the rights of the Palestinian people.
“President von der Leyen’s inability to call out or criticise the actions of Israel in Gaza, and her seemingly unconditional support for prime minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu, who is now subject to an [International Criminal Court] arrest warrant for his actions, mean I cannot support her re-election,” he said.
He said Ms von der Leyen addressed the Renew Europe Group last week and “despite knowing that the Fianna Fáil delegation had serious misgivings about her stance on Gaza, she chose to not reference the issue in her 55-minute speech to our group”.
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