Shareholders for Change (SfC), an institutional investor network, has expressed concern to the European Commission about the removal of its member, Tommy Piemonte, from the EU Defence Industrial Investment Forum. Piemonte was ejected for questioning the sustainability claims of the arms industry, only to be readmitted later. SfC called this action a violation of democratic rights and urged Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to prevent such occurrences in the future. The Forum aimed to discuss financing challenges in the defense sector amidst increasing calls for private investment due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but lacked substantive dialogue on investment criteria.