Musk tells VDL: EU leader should be "elected by the people"
On Wednesday, tech tycoon Elon Musk took a swipe at European democracy and criticized the president of the European Commission.
"If democracy is the foundation of freedom, surely your position as leader of the EU should be elected directly by the people?" Musk wrote in a post on social media platform X, which he owns, to Ursula von der Leyen, News.Az reports citing Politico.
In another post, the Tesla and SpaceX chief added that the "leader of the EU" should be "elected by the people" of the bloc, "not appointed by a committee."
Musk was reacting to von der Leyen's unveiling of the European Democracy Shield, a new strategy to step up the fight against foreign interference online, including in elections.
"Democracy is the foundation of our freedom. Democracy is the foundation of our prosperity. Democracy is the foundation of our security," von der Leyen wrote on social media.
The German politician had pitched the Democracy Shield idea in a campaign speech at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit last year as she sought another term as Commission president ahead of the 2024 European election.
The Commission president — head of the EU's executive, though not literally the "leader of the EU" — is proposed and voted on by the European Council, comprising the EU’s 27 heads of state and government, for a five-year term. The proposed candidate also has to win a vote among members of the European Parliament.
After getting the required backing last year, von der Leyen survived three motions of no confidence by factions in the Parliament in July and October this year.
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