Ursula von der Leyen has announced her intention to seek a second term as president of the European Commission, the most powerful institution in Brussels. The move could make the 65-year-old the most significant politician representing the bloc’s 450 million citizens in a over a generation.
Von der Leyen, who was put forward by her German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, has led the EU through multiple crises, including the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasioà n of Ukraine, which forced overhauls of economic, energy and security policies.
The CDU is expected to rubber stamp her bid when its European umbrella group, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), meets in Bucharest next month.
“The world today is completely different than it was in 2019,” von der Leyen told a CDU meeting in Berlin.
News of Von der Leyen’s candidacy caps off weeks of speculation in Brussels over her political future.
Credit: rfi
