The case was filed at the EU Court of Justice, which has yet to rule on whether it is admissible. While defamation cases are usually handled by national courts \u2014 as the CJEU only rules on EU law \u2014 Piperea is using an article of the treaty founding the EU as legal basis. The article states the EU needs to \u201cmake good any damage caused by its institutions or by its servants in the performance of their duties.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Commission declined to comment.<\/p>\n
\u2018Puppets of Putin\u2019<\/p>\n
In July\u2019s no-confidence debate in Strasbourg, von der Leyen said Piperea\u2019s arguments were taken \u201cright from the oldest playbook of extremists.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see the alarming threat from extremist parties who want to polarize our societies with disinformation,\u201d the Commission president said, adding there is \u201cample proof that many are supported by our enemies and by their puppet masters in Russia or elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manfred Weber, president of von der Leyen\u2019s center-right European People\u2019s Party, described the signatories to the motion as \u201cpuppets of Putin,\u201d adding that \u201cPutin will like what his friends are doing here.\u201d The chair of the Socialists and Democrats, Iratxe Garc\u00eda, also referred to Piperea and the signatories of the motion as allies of Putin.<\/p>\n