The website dedicated to Ursula von der Leyen’s candidacy for a second term as President of the European Commission was the target of a cyber attack, a German woman reported on the social network X on Tuesday.
The European People’s Party (EPP) candidate said in a publication that her campaign website http://ursula2024.eu was attacked by “bots”.
“Cyber attacks will not stop us. I defend a strong Europe that can defend itself – wherever it is,” he further emphasized.
Several European countries, including Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, said last week they had been the target of cyberattacks by Russian hackers backed by Moscow.
Last week, North American diplomacy condemned the recent campaign of cyber attacks in Europe and attributed its origins to Russia.
Moscow, in turn, considered the German government’s accusations that a Moscow-controlled group of Russian hackers carried out a recent campaign of cyber attacks in Germany to be unfounded.
Sources close to the institution’s current president told Lusa at the end of April that Ursula von der Leyen’s re-election as head of the European Commission was “well under way”, acknowledging, however, that approval depended on the composition of the new European Parliament (EP).
It is the European Parliament that must approve, on the proposal of the European Council, the new President of the Commission with an absolute majority (half of all MEPs plus one), while Ursula von der Leyen must receive the green light from at least 361 parliamentarians (720 seats in total).
As the first female President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen was approved by the European Parliament in July 2019 with 383 votes in favor, 327 against and 22 abstentions in a closed vote.
European elections are scheduled for June 6-9.