EU chief Ursula von der Leyen comfortably survives confidence vote

The censure motion, the first at the European Parliament in over a decade, was brought by a group of hard-right lawmakers

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen comfortably survived a vote of no confidence on Thursday, as an overwhelming number of European Union lawmakers rejected a censure motion against her.

The motion contained a mix of allegations against von der Leyen, including text messaging privately with the chief executive of vaccine maker Pfizer during the COVID-19 pandemic, misuse of EU funds and interference in elections in Germany and Romania.

But 360 lawmakers voted against it during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, with 175 in favour, and 18 chose to abstain. Von der Leyen wasn't present for the vote. 

The vote has been a lightning rod for criticism of Von der Leyen who led the EU drive to find vaccines for around 450 million citizens during the pandemic and her European People's Party, which is the largest political family in the assembly.

They're accused of cozying up to the hard right to push through their agenda.