EU Lawmakers Slam Von der Leyen for Grouping Türkiye with Russia, China

(MENAFN) Two European Parliament members have publicly rebuked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over remarks that grouped Türkiye alongside Russia and China, warning that such framing risks fracturing international relations and pushing the world toward dangerous ideological divisions.

The controversy stems from a speech von der Leyen delivered at an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of German newspaper Die Zeit in Hamburg, where she reaffirmed her backing for EU enlargement and called for greater European geopolitical cohesion.

"We must succeed in completing the European continent so that it is not influenced by Russia, Türkiye, or China," she said.

The formulation drew swift backlash for placing Türkiye — a NATO ally and official EU candidate country — in the same category as Russia and China. The European Commission moved quickly to contain the fallout, with a spokesperson stressing that Türkiye remains an "unquestionably important partner" for the bloc. The clarification pointed to Ankara's contributions across migration management, economic cooperation, and strategic initiatives including the Trans-Caspian Middle Corridor, emphasizing that the remark reflected broad geopolitical thinking rather than a direct equivalence between the nations named.

'They Are Losing Power'
Belgian MEP Rudi Kennes, speaking exclusively to Anadolu, tied von der Leyen's comments to what he described as a coordinated Western strategy with far-reaching global consequences.

"I think the comment she made is also contributing to what's actually happening today in the world, and that is all support from all these countries, like the US and all these complicit states, to the cult project Greater Israel," he told media.

Kennes argued that tensions surrounding Iran, Russia, and China were all interlinked within this broader framework and that Europe's global clout was eroding in the face of an emerging multipolar reality.

"They're (Europe) losing power. They're knowing it. They cannot play the sheriff in the world anymore, because now we have a multiple world, not just them as so-called sheriff of the world. And this is just desperate what they are doing now," he noted.

"The only thing today they can do these European leaders, is hopefully that big brother on the other side of the ocean will be able to stay in power. But they're losing," Kennes added.

Von der Leyen 'Dividing the World Between Us and Others'
Fellow Belgian lawmaker Marc Botenga echoed the criticism, calling the Commission president's characterization both misleading and potentially destabilizing.

"It's an extremely weird statement, because also it's not true," he said, arguing that reducing complex global actors to binary categories of allies and adversaries fails to reflect the EU's own extensive trade and diplomatic engagements — including with China and Türkiye — despite existing political frictions.

"Türkiye still is formally a member a candidate member state and so but more globally, I think the problem with Ursula von der Leyen's comments are that she's dividing the world between us and others, as if there's some kind of purity test, as if she wants to conquer the rest of the continent," Botenga said.

The MEP cautioned that applying a rigid ideological litmus test to foreign policy was a path toward diplomatic isolation, not stability.

"We should not be dividing the world between: 'We fully agree with you, so you're a friend, or we have differences, so you're an enemy.' That's a very, very dangerous view of the world to have," Botenga said.

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