State of the Union Address
Von der Leyen remains silent about her own future
September 13, 2023, 11:13 a.m
In her last State of the Union speech before the election, EU Commission President von der Leyen spoke about many projects, but left a noticeable blank space. Once again, the CDU politician avoids a clear commitment to a second term in office. There are two possible explanations for this.
In her annual State of the Union address, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did not say whether she would seek another term in office after the European elections next June. Instead, the top German politician focused her speech, which lasted just over an hour, on projects still planned for the coming months. These include, among other things, the fight against illegal migration and efforts to reduce the EU’s dependencies on countries like China.
Von der Leyen only made general comments about the upcoming elections. “In less than 300 days, Europeans will go to the polls in our unique and remarkable democracy,” she said. As with every election, this will be the moment “when people will reflect on the situation in our European Union – and what those who represent our fellow citizens have achieved.” It will also be the moment to decide what future and what Europe voters want.
In order to be able to remain at the head of the EU Commission for another five years, the CDU politician von der Leyen would have to be nominated as the top candidate of the European EVP party family for the European elections, as things currently stand. In addition to the German CDU and CSU, this includes the Austrian ÖVP, the Italian Forza Italia and Spain’s conservative People’s Party PP.
So far, von der Leyen has publicly avoided all questions about a possible second term in office. One possible reason is that the 64-year-old doesn’t want to start the election campaign now, but wants to push ahead with important EU projects for a few more months. But there is also speculation that the US government in particular would like to see her succeed Jens Stoltenberg as NATO Secretary General and that it wants to keep this option open. The Norwegian wants to finally resign from his position after the next major alliance summit in Washington in the summer of 2024. As a former defense minister, von der Leyen is considered a possible ideal candidate for the top job.