Strack-Zimmermann blasts von der Leyen for dragging her feet on defence policy

euronews (in English)

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, one of the lead candidates in the European elections, has issued a blistering verdict of Ursula von der Leyen's first term in office.

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00:00 The Alde party lead candidate has called for considerably more EU support for Ukraine.

00:10 German liberal Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told Euronews that military aid up until now

00:15 has not sufficiently helped Ukraine in being successful.

00:18 She especially blamed outgoing EU Commission President and fellow German politician Ursula

00:23 von der Leyen for wasting time in responding to the war.

00:27 I'm absolutely disappointed because you know she was for six years, really a long time,

00:32 she was the defence minister of Germany and she knows what happens if you lose time.

00:38 Why she didn't talk about military security when she started to be the president of the

00:44 commission because she knows this topic, she has an idea what happened.

00:51 Strack-Zimmermann also painted a negative picture of von der Leyen's time in office.

00:56 She said her arrival in the race to head the EU executive was disappointing, especially

01:01 when it came to security, the economy and the rule of law in Hungary.

01:10 It's a question that everybody was very irritated that she paid 10 billion euro for Mr. Orban

01:20 in questions of the Ukraine.

01:23 Everybody was really shocked about it.

01:26 It's really unbelievable.

01:31 Strack-Zimmermann, who belongs to Germany's Free Democratic Party, which is part of the

01:36 country's three-way governing coalition, is a defence expert and a sharp critic of Russia's

01:41 war against Ukraine.

01:43 Even when Barack Obama was president, he said it.

01:46 [SWOOSH]

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