Did he intentionally let his shirt hang out of the back of his pants? In any case, it was a detail that Walter Baier highlighted visually from his four fellow discussants.
But the Communist from Austria was also able to make his contribution to the TV Elephant round im Parliament in Brussels surprise: whether it was his demand for an EU-wide price cap or the very personal memory of his Grandmother who was murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp because “Western countries closed their borders to her as a refugee”.
Over-staged spectacle is reminiscent of a song contest
Apart from Baier’s notable appearance – he represented the Left – the official round of the so-called “top candidates” in the EU elections on Thursday was largely an over-staged TV spectacle. One was more reminded of the Song Contest than of a political debate.
Von der Leyen attacked
The EPP’s top candidate, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, gave the impression for a long time as if she was only marginally interested in the debate. So the attacks from their challengers, which were already expected, were quite calm.
They tried to criticize Von der Leyen for her political rapprochement to Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to challenge. Meloni’s party is in the EU Parliament right-wing conservative EKR group, which cooperates with the ID that is even further to the right – i.e. the FPÖ faction. “Is that really pro-European for you?”, the Social Democrats’ top candidate Nicolas Schmit asked the Commission President directly about a possible alliance with Meloni. As in previous debates, she didn’t want to rule it out. We will see how the political groups in the EU Parliament will regroup after the elections. Potential partners would have to adhere to three principles: “Pro-Europe, pro-Ukraine, pro-rule of law and democracy.”
Ready-made slogans on most topics
Otherwise, the discussants largely stuck to their ready-made slogans on all topics Migration to environmental and climate policy Whether it was the German Green Terry Reintke or the French-Italian liberal Sandro Gozi: all of them campaigned for a green restructuring of industry, but also for its global competitiveness and of course promised to look after the farmers. The fact that Schmit was in favor of more social issues, Reintke for a little more green and Gozi for less regulation were just background noises in the great concert of promises. In any case, there should be more money for all of these concerns – and on top of that for more defense.
It was left to the communist Baier to be the only one to speak out against too much armament and for quick peace negotiations – including in Gaza, by the way.