“Patriotic, indeed.”

On Wednesday, April 29, 2026, MEP Irena Joveva participated in a plenary debate on the alleged interference of the European Commission in democracy, where she sharply criticized the initiators of the debate and described them as apparent patriots, but in reality defenders of foreign interests: “Patriots only in name. In reality, defenders of foreign interests. European ones – not even a little bit.”

She initially emphasized that such accusations are a typical tactic of populists who blame others for their own actions, and pointed out that this debate is perhaps the most obvious form of propaganda.

Joveva went on to assess that the European Commission was right to freeze funds to Hungary due to suspicions of corruption, and emphasized that European taxpayers cannot finance controversial practices. She also pointed to cases of actual interference in politics, including the participation of foreign political actors in election campaigns.

According to her, the problem is not that the Commission interferes too much, but that it does not act decisively enough against external influences, and concluded that drawing attention to such phenomena is an expression of true patriotism:

“It’s patriotic to say that, you know. But this from the proposers… nice attempt, bad script, even worse acting. It’s very clear who in this hall is really defending Europe and their home – and who is selling it. Patriotic, indeed.”