Her rise to the presidency of the EU Commission was a testament to the old maxim that you would only climb the heights of Brussels politics after proving your incompetence at home – and the six-year Ursula von der Leyen as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s defense minister disaster.
But yesterday even the most ardent supporters of the European project questioned whether Mrs von der Leyen could continue as president, with responsibility for the ‘vindictive’ attempt to halt on vaccines reaching the UK falling squarely on its shoulders.
Bild, the brutal but influential German tabloid, in particular, was declining, noting that she was ‘failing as a defense minister’ and now blaming the vaccination fiasco by calling on her to ‘take over everything in Brussels’.
As Mrs. von der Leyen, 62, fights to save her situation this week, she will at least be able to reflect on the past moments of her life when she found herself under chorus
Brussels-based diplomats were equally damned, saddened that it tried to push a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland to stop the import of vaccines without informing the Taoiseach, Michael Martin.
‘She has to go. Now, ‘said one of them. ‘Told if ****** no one.’
Even EU cheerleader Tony Blair criticized the Commission’s attempt to control vaccine movements, saying it was ‘inappropriate’.
As Mrs. von der Leyen, 62, fights to save her situation this week, she will at least be able to reflect on the past moments of her life when she found herself under chorus.
During her years as defense minister almost one-fifth of Germany’s 68 combat helicopters, and less than a third of their 136 Eurofighter jets were eligible for air.
Well-trained pilots marched in droves, and the army was less equipped that soldiers took part in training exercises with broom sticks instead of guns.
One of the surprises in Mrs von der Leyen ‘s attempt to bully the British government and the drug companies over Covid’ s vaccines is that she claims to be an Anglophile.
Mrs Merkel resigned as president of the commission in 2019 as part of a closed-door carving of key operations between powerful EU member states – although she barely announced her belief that Mrs von der Leyen was a light-hearted man.
It may be impossible, but the President of the Commission is dismissing problems that could be overwhelmed by politicians with less confidence.
She even survived allegations that she had stolen large parts of her medical dissertation in 1990.
Her medical school paid close attention to the allegations, finally ruling five years ago that while some of the material had been copied, her crime was not lacking in intentional plagiarism.
Ms. von der Leyen is an antithesis of Mrs. Merkel’s orderly, meticulous, favoring an inappropriate trouser suit in a style that appears to have been purchased in East Germany. before the Wall came down.
Brussels-based diplomats were equally damned, saddened that she tried to push a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland to stop the import of vaccines without telling the Taoiseach, Michael Martin
In contrast, the president of the Commission is lithe and elegantly dressed, with a ready smile and hair blown back, never as much like Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore in the James Bond movie Goldfinger. She is also a good horse.
Surprisingly, over the years, she has trained as a doctor, spent four years in the USA, and created a long ministerial career in Germany while raising seven children, one of whom has been to Oxford.
One of the surprises in Mrs von der Leyen ‘s attempt to bully the British government and the drug companies over Covid’ s vaccines is that she claims to be an Anglophile.
When she and Boris Johnson teamed up on zoom to mark the signing of a trade deal on Christmas Eve, she mentioned the Beatles, TS Eliot, and William Shakespeare.
‘Separation is so sad,’ she told Mr Johnson, who replied firmly that Britain had remained close and ‘indeed, let it not be forgotten, your market number one’.
Her father, Ernst Albrecht, was one of the first to serve as a bureaucracy in Brussels when the European Commission was formed in 1958, so she spent the first 13 years of her life in Brussels.
Coming from cotton dealers and American plantation owners, the family was wealthy and prominent enough to fear the views of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist gang, a major concern in Germany in the late 1970s.
So instead of being surrounded by defenders, as a young woman she came to London, where she lived under a named name and studied at the London School of Economics.
Even EU cheerleader Tony Blair criticized the Commission’s attempt to control vaccine movements, saying it was ‘inappropriate’
‘I lived a lot longer than I studied,’ she recalled. ‘No details, please. Except this: In 1978 I moved myself for one year in this big, international, colorful city. To me, coming from a somewhat monotonous, white Germany, that was interesting. ‘
She has been married since 1986 to a doctor, Heiko, a scion of the noble von der Leyen family who built their fortune as silk merchants.
The family live on a farm near Hanover, where they keep horses, one of which is known as Cockney.
During the week, when asked to be in Brussels, the home is a 269sq ft ‘accommodation’ next to her office on the 13th floor of the Commission’s Berlaymont headquarters.
It is likely that Mrs von der Leyen will survive and keep her lodges. There is no culture of responsibility to take responsibility in Brussels, even for messages as it is.
But this is a woman who likes to start her speeches by saying she was born ‘in Brussels as a European’. And to have brought the EU into a global mockery will be a bitter lump to swallow.
Her father, Ernst Albrecht, was one of the first to serve as a bureaucracy in Brussels when the European Commission was formed in 1958, so she spent the first 13 years of her life in Brussels. Ursula can be seen on the left while her father is seen in the center, and her mother on the right