DiEM25 (@diem25.org), the pan-European political movement co-founded by Yanis Varoufakis, and The Polis Project, which documents global communities in resistance at the intersection of politics, art, and culture, are thrilled to announce a new collaboration.

Together, we are committed to addressing urgent political realities by building and strengthening our communities through shared knowledge and solidarity.

This partnership seeks to amplify the work of both organizations through co-publishing, joint initiatives, and engaged dialogues—fostering deeper, more inclusive conversations on contemporary politics, justice, and resistance. From empire and colonialism to systemic inequality, we aim to provide fresh, cross-border perspectives on the most pressing issues of our time.

In solidarity, we will promote diverse voices, challenge dominant narratives, and imagine alternative futures grounded in justice, care, and collective action.

The astonishing case of Ursula von der Leyen

It is one of life’s guilty pleasures when one’s cynical prejudices are confirmed. One such moment, when I allowed myself a long, hard laugh, came as the news arrived that Ursula von der Leyen had been awarded the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen for “her services to the unity of the Member States, in the containment of the pandemic, for the unity of the Union’s determination to defend itself against Russia — and for the impetus towards the Green Deal.” It was now official: In Brussels, nothing succeeds like gross failure and, even worse, nothing is rewarded more generously than corruption.

Let me begin with the above rationale for the Prize: Mrs Von der Leyen’s “impetus towards the Green Deal”. Can they be serious? Future historians will zero in on the so-called Green Deal as an example of what is wrong with the European Union: smoke and mirrors masquerading as majestic policy initiatives. Indeed, when it was announced, and after studying it carefully, I rushed out an article in The Guardian to warn against the Green Deal on two grounds: first, the money it promised to invest in the green transition was simply not there and, secondly, the heralded deal was rather… brown – in that it aimed at greenwashing far more than at greening Europe.

Four years later, the Green Deal was declared a gross failure and was unceremoniously ditched in favour of Von der Leyen’s next white elephant: the folly of building up a European military-industrial complex under the codenames Re-Arm Europe or SAFE.

Why is it folly to think that Von der Leyen’s Commission will spearhead a European military-industrial complex? For three reasons, as I have explained elsewhere.

First, as in the case of the Green Deal, the money is not there and the EU cannot credibly commit to finding it given its steadfast refusal to form a proper fiscal union.

Secondly, even if money were not a problem, the EU lacks the federal institutions to construct a top-down, pan-European military-industrial complex, instead of the existing patchwork of nation-state based companies that compete with one another with the backing of their national governments.

Thirdly, even if neither money nor a federal-like set of institutions were a problem, Europe would not be able (I hope!) to emulate the United States’ capacity to wage one war after the other to ensure a constant demand for weapons and munitions.

Two terms as President of the European Commission, two gross and rather costly failures. But these failures would not be enough to burnish Mrs Von der Leyen’s credentials and seal her rise to the lofty heights that justified granting her the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen. No, for that splendid Prize to be awarded, she needed to add certified corruption to her gross failure. Thankfully, she did!

Showing a remarkable determination to break the law both in her own country, Germany, and in the European Union, Mrs Von der Leyen succeeded in being sanctioned in both jurisdictions for treating the public with contempt in pursuit of her own interests. As Germany’s defence minister, she desperately tried to conceal her involvement in shady defence contracts by sabotaging the Bundestag’s investigation in the matter through the “illegal and deliberate” deletion of her phone contents.

As European Commission president, the EU top court found her culpable of repeating the unlawful practice of deleting her phone records of illicit personal exchanges with heads of global corporations – on this occasion with the CEO of Pfizer without whom she negotiated, on Europe’s behalf, lucrative COVID-19 vaccine deals.

With these findings pointing to despicable behaviour under her belt, and her majestic policy failures (the Green Deal, Re-Arm and SAFE) on hand, Ursula von der Leyen was almost a shoo in for the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen. Almost but not quite! To push through the finishing line she needed to add another credential to her curriculum vitae: she needed to become the cheerleader of Israel’s army. Thankfully for our European Commission President, the opportunity arose after Hamas attacked Israel on 7th October 2023. Immediately, Mrs Von der Leyen sprang to action.

Without any authority or authorisation – since neither foreign nor defence policy is in the purview of the Commission President – she landed in Tel Aviv, not as a campaigner for an immediate end to war crimes on all sides, nor as an ambassador of Peace & Reconciliation or as an advocate of International Law or as a believer in the simple idea that the Geneva convention is humanity’s last hope in the darkest of hours.

No, she went there to pose in front of Israeli tanks poised to enter Gaza with the air of a proud cheerleader on Grand Final day. She went there as an enabler of the war crime of denying two million non-combatants water and food, as a cheerleader of an air force intentionally targeting people’s homes, as a facilitator of the war crime of transferring a million people to other parts of Gaza where they were also bombed.

This article was written by Yanis Varoufakis for DiEM25, originally published by Der Freitag in German. You can read the full article here.