Why is the new EU Commission President criticised back in her home country Germany, and praised for her Eurocentric policies abroad?
German Defense Minister and Elected European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives to attend the cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany, July 17, 2019.
The president-elect, who's known to be a close aide of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, gave a speech immediately after she was named for the top post. The 60-year-old defence minister was born in Brussels in October 1958. Her family moved to Germany when she was 13. Von der Leyen is married with seven children and trained as a gynaecologist in Hanover. She has also studied economics at the London School of Economics before taking up a degree in medicine.
In 2003, she was appointed as minister of social affairs, women, family affairs and health in Lower Saxony, and in 2005 she became federal minister for family affairs, senior citizens, women and youth.
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