EU chief von der Leyen easily survives two more no confidence votes

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s top official comfortably survived on Thursday two more votes of no confidence, as an overwhelming number of EU lawmakers rejected censure motions against her.

In the votes on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, 378 lawmakers rejected a far-right censure motion, with 179 in favor and 37 abstaining. On a far-left motion, 383 lawmakers voted against, with 133 in support and 78 abstentions.

Von der Leyen has now survived three no confidence votes in a year since beginning her second 5-year term at the helm of the EU’s powerful executive branch. She is the first commission chief to face any such votes in more than a decade.

The commission proposes EU laws and supervises whether those that enter into force are respected. It also manages trade on behalf of the 27 member countries and is Europe’s top competition regulator.

The nationalist Patriots for Europe political group insists that migration “has exploded” under von der Leyen’s leadership and threatens “our identity and security.” Its members say she abandoned farmers and consumers, jeopardizing food safety with pro-environment policies.

The Left group blames her for “signing off on a number of detrimental trade deals” and failing “to act against the Israeli government’s systemic violations of international law in Gaza.”

But von der Leyen was backed by the big pro-European centrist groups during the votes in Strasbourg, France. They hold a majority in the assembly, and accuse the fringe groups from the left and right of the political spectrum of using the censure motions for political point-scoring.

But the votes have also been a lightning rod for criticism of von der Leyen — who led the EU drive to find vaccines for the citizens of all 27 countries during the pandemic — and her center-right European People’s Party, which is the largest political family in the assembly.

They’re accused of cozying up to the hard right to push through their political agenda.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen holds a gift she got for her birthday before delivering her statement on EU response to recent Russian violations of the EU Member States' airspace and critical infrastructure, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen delivers her statement on EU response to recent Russian violations of the EU Member States' airspace and critical infrastructure, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Pascal Bastien)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center, sits with other world leaders during the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during the opening address at the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

It was at a relatively minor event in upstate New York in September 2022 that Ilia Malinin, the self-anointed “Quad God" who was fast becoming the biggest name in figure skating, finally landed the jump that so many people had thought impossible.

Others had tried quad axels in competition over the years. All of them had fallen. That extra 180 degrees of rotation — necessary for the only jump in skating that starts with a forward-facing entry — proved to be a half-revolution too much.

So when Malinin landed it inside the arena made famous by the U.S. hockey team's upset of the Soviets at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, it not only sent shockwaves through the tight-knit skating community but made headlines around the world.

“My mind was just blown,” said two-time Olympic skater Jason Brown.

Yet by conquering the gravity-defying jump, Malinin also raised an important question: What comes next?

The six main jumps in figure skating have been standard since the early 1900s. The only difference between then and now is the number of revolutions. Dick Button landed the first double axel in 1948, and the first triple jump four years later. Kurt Browning landed the first quad, a toe loop, in 1988, and it was 10 years before Timothy Goebel landed the first quad salchow.

By landing the quad axel, Malinin may have maxed out the boundaries of human performance. Most sports scientists agree that the speed and amplitude necessary for five-revolution jumps truly is impossible, leaving figure skating at a crossroads, where a dearth of innovation threatens to take the shine off a sport already fighting to maintain popularity.

“I think it's kind of natural that we were going to get to this point,” said Malinin, the overwhelming favorite to win gold for the U.S. at the Milan Cortina Olympics. "But I haven't reached my top, whether it's in the technical and how much I can jump and spin, but also in the creativity.”

Malinin, 20, points to his signature “raspberry twist,” a somersaulting spin unlike anything that anybody else does. He created it himself, and it tends to bring down the house whenever he throws it down near the end of his programs.

Yet the flashy maneuver also underscores one of the inherent problems with trying to be creative: It doesn't get rewarded.

The International Skating Union has rigid requirements for both short programs and free skates, and it rarely pays off to deviate too far from the script. Malinin might not get a lot of extra points for landing his raspberry twist, for example, since it is not one of the six standard figure skating jumps, but a failure to land it could cost him dearly.

“Absolutely, there are a lot of things I've wanted to try,” Malinin told The Associated Press, “because I think it would be really cool and appealing. But it's a bigger risk for the program itself, and the system and scoring means it doesn't make sense.”

In other words, what's the point in trying to innovate?

“There are so many rules in your programs that you don't have too much wiggle room,” said Alysa Liu, the reigning world champion. “A lot of these rules really restrict us. Like, all of our spins look the same now, but they could look so different."

“One of my training mates, Sonja Himler, does these incredible programs," added Amber Glenn, a three-time U.S. champion, and along with Liu one of the favorites to win Olympic gold for the American team in February.

“Like, she spins the other way, jumps the other way — really cool things that, you know, someone who's watched a little bit of skating will be like, ‘Oh, I’ve never seen that before,'” Glenn said. “Whereas if I go and do, you know, the norm, and do it well, versus what she does, my scores will be better, even though what she does is way more impressive, in my opinion.”

Justin Dillon, the manager of high performance at U.S. Figure Skating, acknowledged having had hard conversations with some skaters about their programs. They may have planned something unique or interesting, but the risk wouldn't be worth the reward.

“I encourage individuality, and bringing it to the ice,” Dillon said, “but if they do something so avant-garde that it doesn't check those boxes, then it really doesn't serve them. It doesn't always mean throw it out, but what can we do to make it a home run?”

To its credit, figure skating's governing body has loosened some restrictions in recent years. The backflip, which was long banned in competition because of its inherent danger, is allowed now, though it also doesn't carry a whole lot of scoring weight.

Is that hold-your-breath element of risk and uncertainty the next big step in skating?

“I mean, you're cringing. It legit scares me," Glenn said of the backflip. “If you can do it, great. I think it's so fun. I want to learn it once I'm done competing. But the thought of practicing it in like, a warmup or in training, it just scares me.”

Brown has never been able to consistently land quad jumps in competition. Instead, he relies on near-perfect execution of triple jumps, along with arguably the best artistry in figure skating, to consistently challenge for podium placements in major competitions.

Maybe, Brown mused, the next innovation in figure skating has nothing to do with extreme feats of athletic ability.

“I have so much respect for the ways in which people are pushing the sport technically,” he said, "but I think the more that people fixate on executing an element, the less risk people take artistically, because they’re already taking these risks technically. And it is very hard to do both. So maybe the next step for figure skating is to reward the story we're trying to tell."

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Amber Glenn skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Ilia Malinin skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Ilia Malinin competes during the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Ilia Malinin competes during the men's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)