European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that with the inauguration of Joe Biden, Europe once again has “a friend in the White House”.
Speaking before the European Parliament on Wednesday morning, the EU Commission boss hailed the prospect of enacting globalist policies with the 77-year-old Democrat, such as combatting supposedly man-made climate change and policing ‘hate speech’ on the internet.
“This time-honoured ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol will be a demonstration of the resilience of American democracy. And resounding proof that, once again, after four long years, Europe has a friend in the White House,” von der Leyen declared.
“From climate to health, from digitalisation to democracy – these are global challenges that need renewed and improved global cooperation. And the EU and U.S. must lead from the front and bring an alliance of like-minded partners with us,” she added.
The top EU politician pointed to bloc’s proposed agenda to work with the Biden administration, A New EU-U.S. Agenda for Global Change, as a starting point for cooperation.
The wide-ranging plan calls for a commitment from the United States alongside the European Union to reduce carbon emissions to net-zero by the year 2050, calling for “systemic change across our economies and global cooperation across the Atlantic and the world.”
“I am delighted that on day one of this new administration, the U.S. will rejoin the Paris Agreement. This is the starting point for our renewed cooperation. And way more is to come,” von der Leyen said.
The European Commission chief went on to express her “relief” to see the end of “four long years” of the Trump Presidency but went on to warn of the alleged dangers from the Make America Great Again movement.
“Although Donald Trump’s presidency may be history in just a few hours, his movement will not. More than 70 million Americans voted for him in the election,” she maligned.
Mrs von der Leyen claimed that the unrest seen at the Capitol on January 6th is “what happens when words incite action.”
“That is what happens when hate speech and fake news spread like wildfire through digital media. They become a danger to democracy. We should take these images from the USA as a sobering warning. Despite our deep-rooted confidence in our European democracy, we are not immune to similar events,” she warned.
“There are people who subscribe to rampant conspiracy theories, which are often a confused mixture of completely absurd fantasies. And, of course, we too see this hate and contempt for our democracy spreading unfiltered through social media to millions of people,” she added.
Mrs von der Leyen said that the EU and the United States must ensure that “messages of hate and fake news can no longer be spread unchecked” and that governments must “impose democratic limits” on the “uncontrolled political power of the internet giants.”
The European Commission president said that whether or not it was the right decision to censor President Trump, she demanded that control of speech on the internet should be in the hands of “politicians and parliaments” instead of Silicon Valley tech giants.
Earlier this month, the European Commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, described the storming of the Capitol building as the “9/11 moment of social media” and pronounced that stricter government control of speech will be required to combat alleged extremism.
He called on the Biden administration to “join forces, as allies of the free world” in order to develop a “new global approach to online platforms”.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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