Credits: Michel Euler/The AP
As reported by Politico, Emmanuel Macron, the French President, sent her a note in very early 2024 expressing serious doubts about how the deal could adversely impact French farmers. What did Macron say? It’s gone.
The European Commission informed that the Signal app has a feature that automatically deletes messages, and it "did not archive the text message because it had no legal or administrative effect."
Does that sound familiar?
It should. This is not the first time Ursula von der Leyen has had to answer questions about disappearing messages. During the infamous "Pfizer-gate" scandal, von der Leyen was accused of using text messages to negotiate a large COVID vaccine deal in secrecy with the Pfizer CEO, deleted messages again. Ultimately, the EU Court determined that the messages were public documents and could not just disappear.
Now, the EU Ombudsman is opening up yet another investigation. But the larger question is:
How can there be accountability or transparency if political figureheads can discuss key political decisions in private messages which erase all evidence?
At this stage, it doesn’t seem to be a coincidence. It all feels more like a pattern.
References:
https://www.ftm.eu/articles/von-der-leyen-puts-signal-messages-autodelete
https://www.politico.eu/article/macrons-bombshell-text-threatens-to-wreck-von-der-leyens-trade-deal
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