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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

New EU chief doubles down on ‘European way of life’ tag

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BRUSSELS: The European Commission’s incoming chief, Ursula von der Leyen, on Monday defended a controversial “Protecting our European Way of Life” title for her new migration commissioner, rejecting calls to change it. The monicker is under fire from European lawmakers, rights groups and some member states for echoing the xenophobic rhetoric of the far-right.


But, in a statement run by various European newspapers, she said it was grounded in the “tolerance” and “non-discrimination” expressed in the European Union treaty.


Von der Leyen, a former German defence minister, acknowledged that the wording “triggered a debate” and that “for some, the European way of life is a loaded, politicised term”.


But she called the polemic “a good thing” that promoted transparency.


“We cannot and we must not let ourselves have our linguistic expressions taken away — they are also part of who we are,” she said, warning against “adversaries of Europe” trying to undermine “this European way of life”.


While von der Leyen’s statement focused on the wording in the EU treaty and appealed to higher ideals, she made no mention of the link she made between the title and the tasks linked to it.


In her mission letter to the incoming commissioner, Greece’s Margaritis Schinas, von der Leyen wrote she wanted him to be one of several vice presidents whose mandate would cover education, integration, migration and cross-border security. — AFP


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