"The EU is falling to bits. Everybody within the EU is squabbling. The commissioner of the EU, Van der Leyen, we call her Frau Genocide - it is very popular. I mean, everybody despises her. She's an authoritarian figure. In Germany the GDP [growth] last year was 0.2%. That's not even 1%, it's two-tenths of 1%," Shipton noted.
In December 2023, Clare Daly, a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland, called von der Leyen "Frau Genocide" and said that she was responsible for the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Immediately after the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, von der Leyen, who took a pro-Israeli position and for some time ignored the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the deaths of civilians, was harshly criticized in the media, which accused her of "double standards," recalling her statements on the conflict in Ukraine, and warned against making statements on behalf of the entire EU. Later, the European Commission press service and the European External Action Service had to correct von der Leyen's one-sided statements, explaining that the opinion expressed "is her personal and does not reflect the position of the entire EU."
US Does Not Like, Does Not Accept Truth About Itself
The United States does not like and does not accept the truth about itself, John Shipton, an Australian activist and the father of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, said in an interview with Sputnik.
In July, Assange was released from a British prison after many years of imprisonment and returned to Australia following a plea agreement with the US authorities.
According to Shipton, Washington "took very strong measures against Julian for publishing the truth."
"And also they put Chelsea Manning in jail for 35 years. And Edward Snowden had to have asylum in the Russian Federation. So it is clear that they do take very strong exceptions to the truth about themselves being published. They don't like the truth about themselves," the activist said about the US actions.
However, Shipton said Washington had "so many problems" to continue worrying about the Assange case.
"If they're worrying about Julian Assange, well, they ought to get a new job," Shipton advised the US authorities.