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Since, as things stand, Ursula von der Leyen will only be elected if she can gather a majority behind her in the EU Parliament, she is dependent on alliances. The fact that during a recent panel discussion she reached out to parties that, like the right-wing conservative EKR group, are to the right of the EPP, brought her a lot of criticism. At the CDU party conference, she therefore saw the need to make it clear once again that cooperation can only take place with parties that meet three requirements: “A clear commitment to the rule of law, a clear commitment to Ukraine and against the crimes of the Kremlin and a clear commitment to Europe”.