The European Parliament (EP) rejected a no-confidence vote against EC President Ursula von der Leyen, initiated by the far right over her work on COVID-19 vaccine contracts.

Von der Leyen survived the vote by a large margin, with 360 MEPs voting against and 175 in favor.

Romanian right-wing MEP Gheorghe Pipere tabled the motion of no confidence after gathering enough signatures to express his outrage at von der Leyen's secret communications with Albert Bourla, CEO of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, between 2021 and 2022.

They relate to discussions on vaccine deliveries to Europe at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Von der Leyen herself described the no-confidence motion against her, backed by the far right, as an attempt based on conspiracy theories to undermine European unity.

"This is straight out of the oldest book of extremists — polarizing society, undermining trust in democracy with false claims," von der Leyen told the European Parliament on July 7.

On July 9, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called on the European Commission president to resign.

"It's time to go," Orbán wrote on social media, accompanying his post with a portrait of von der Leyen. | BGNES