EP PARTY LEADERS TEAM UP TO REJECT U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE EU POSSIBLE NOMINEE

Joint-Letter of Manfred Weber, Chairman of the EPP Group, and Guy Verhofstardt, President of the ALDE GROUP to President of the European Commission, President of the European Parliament and President of the European Council

“ In the past weeks, Ted Malloch likely nominee by U.S. President Trump to become the new Ambassador to the European Union, made a series of public statements denigrating the EU.

In these statements, the prospective nominee expressed his ambition to ‘tame the block like he brought down the Soviet Union, eloquently supported dissolution of the European Union and explicitly bet on the demise of the common currency within months.

These statements reveal outrageous, malevolence regarding the values that define this European Union and, if pronounced by an official representative of the United States, they would have the potential to undermine seriously the transatlantic relationship, that has, for the past 70 years essentially contributed to peace, stability and prosperity in our Continent.

We are strongly convinced that persons seeing as their mission to disrupt or dissolve the European Union, should not be accredited as official representatives to the EU.

On behalf of our political groups in the European Parliament, we urge you not to accept the accreditation credentials of Mr. Malloch, should he be proposed as U.S. Ambassador to the EU.”

Letter of Gianni Pitella, President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament to the President of the European Council

“ The S&D group would like to draw your attention to the shocking statements given by Ted R. Malloch, tipped to be appointed by the newly elected U.S. President, Donald Trump, as the next U.S. Ambassador to the European Union. Mr. Malloch openly expressed himself to be in favour of the dissolution of the EU- to be “brought down as the Soviet Union”- and wants to see the demise of the common currency within months.

These statements clearly show Mr. Malloch’s hostility not only toward the European Union as such but also to our common values and principles. We firmly believe that ignoring this unacceptable stance would undermine our future relationship with the U.S. administration and could potentially contribute to the spread of populism and Euroscepticism across Europe.

Therefore, the S&D Group is clear that Mr. Malloch should not be accepted as an official representative to the EU and should be declared a ‘persona non grata’.