Ursula von der Leyen vows never to work with Europe’s far-right parties

European Commission president seeks a second term and says there’s no place for ‘Putin’s friends’ in bloc

The chief of the European Commission has vowed to never work with extremist parties such as the far-right Alternative für Deutschland no matter how big a vote they get in the European elections in June.

Ursula von der Leyen, officially launching her campaign for a second term in Brussels’s top job against a backdrop of rising concern over security and Russia, said on Wednesday that she would only work with “pro-European, pro-Nato, pro-Ukrainian, clear supporters of our democratic values”.