Tag: Von der Leyen

She was born in a Brussels suburb a little more than 60 years ago. Now the pursuit of her political career could lead her back to the Belgian and European capital. Discussing key job nominations, the EU’s heads of state and government have come up with the name of Germany defence minister Ursula Von der Leyen.

So now the Christian Democrat politician, who was introduced to the Berlin stage by Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2005 – and who was once briefly treated as a potential successor to Merkel – is set to become head of the European Commission. She would be the Commission’s first-ever female chief, although the European Parliament will only take the actual decision in a couple of days.

A good command of languages

Von der Leyen spent the first 13 years of her life in Brussels. Her father, Ernst Albrecht, who would later become state premier in Lower Saxony, was a high-level official at the EEC and EC, the EU’s predecessor institutions. In contrast to many of her colleagues in the government, Von der Leyen speaks English and French fluently and has always acted with self-confidence on the international stage.

In several governments led by Chancellor Merkel, Leyen held a variety of ministerial posts. Invariably, she would tackle her new task with great dedication, calling existing structures into question and eventually stirring them up. Occasionally, her determination even produced irritation among her parliamentary party colleagues.

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Ministerial posts

Initially, the mother of seven held the post of family minister between 2005 and 2009. With her sometimes unconventional style, she sent clear signals to the political establishment in Berlin. For example, she initiated a parental assistance program (“Elterngeld”) and oversaw a nationwide expansion of childcare by providing substantial financial support from the German government.

In 2009, then serving in Merkel’s second Cabinet, Von der Leyen, a trained physician, became health minister. Four years later, in December 2013, she switched to the Ministry of Defense. She remained in charge of the latter ministry even after the complicated government formation process in the wake of the 2017 federal elections. Hardly any of her seventeen predecessors, all of them men, managed to hold on to the post for six years.

Prior to taking over at defence ministry (long considered a graveyard for promising German political careers), the ambitious Von der Leyen had a nearly flawless career. She has mostly been loyal to Chancellor Angela Merkel, who counts on her as a solid pillar in her Cabinet.

Mover and shaker

As defence minister, Von der Leyen quickly tackled the armed forces’ problems one by one. The Bundeswehr was and still is afflicted by outdated and defective equipment, ill-conceived arms projects and a severe shortage of experts. By applying a lot of political pressure and by speaking out in public on behalf of the Bundeswehr she achieved an increase in the defence budget – albeit still well short of NATO’s spending targets. And under the catchphrase “personnel turnaround,” the first female German defence minister stopped the downsizing of the armed forces, bolstering troop numbers for the first time since the end of the Cold War.

Also read: Spain Joins France and Germany to Build a Next-Generation Fighter Jet

She scrapped Germany’s fixed cap of 185,000 troops. Under Von der Leyen’s tenure, defence policy became a recognisable element of Germany’s foreign policy. This was also in line with international efforts to fight the “Islamic State” terror militia, which has seen contributions by the German armed forces in several spheres.