Ursula von der Leyen’s reelection campaign gets off to a bumpy start

BRUSSELS — Ursula von der Leyen hasn’t named a campaign director yet to lead her bid for a second term at the head of the EU executive — but campaign hostilities have already started.

Only days after a nod from her conservative camp to be their “lead candidate” in June’s Europe-wide election, she already warded off two significant challenges from would-be allies.

Such attacks represent a rough start to campaigning for a Commission chief who has managed — and, many would argue, thrived — to distance herself in her 9-to-5 from everyday politics as she led the bloc’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, economic crisis, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Her quasi-regal style has even earned her the somewhat affectionate moniker “Queen von der Leyen” among Brussels insiders.

Von der Leyen, who’s untested as a campaigner on the European stage (she was slotted into her current role in 2019), is quickly losing the forcefield of incumbency as the campaign heats up. She has yet to prove her mettle in the context of a contentious political race. Although she delivered a combative speech to launch her campaign in Budapest, attacking France’s far-right National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, for being “friends” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, her camp has yet to name any political executives. An account on X that’s meant to speak for von der Leyen’s campaign is underused, with less than 3,000 followers versus more than 1.5 million for her official account.

The first salvo came from French industry czar Thierry Breton, an outspoken politician who works for von der Leyen and sits across from her during weekly meetings of European commissioners.

In a late-night tweet last week, Breton claimed — somewhat dubiously — that von der Leyen lacked the support of her own conservative camp, arguing it was time for the center-right European People’s Party grouping in Parliament to loosen its grip on EU power after a 25-year run.

“Despite her qualities, Ursula von der Leyen is in the minority within her party,” Breton wrote. “The [EPP] seems not to believe in its own candidate.”

The unusually hostile move from a sitting commissioner toward his boss earned Breton a quick rebuke from the Commission’s secretary-general who, according to a letter obtained by Brussels Playbook, reminded him of the institution’s rules on collegiality and campaigning (no mixing of campaign and official duties).

A French official followed up with more finger-waving. The president, Emmanuel Macron, was allegedly “furious” over the tweet.

But the damage was done. Von der Leyen was now fair game for political attacks and indictments of her legacy, one of her colleagues signalled.

It didn’t take long for another would-be ally, EPP chief Manfred Weber, to pile on with another challenge that, though less personal, may well prove more damaging in the coming weeks.

Just a few days after his troops nominated von der Leyen as their lead candidate for the European election, Weber ordered them to sign on to a cross-party legal challenge in Parliament taking the Commission to task over its decision to grant Hungary €10 billion in EU money that had been frozen over issues surrounding the country’s rule of law. Von der Leyen’s office was directly responsible for agreeing to unfreeze the funds over the objections of all major parties in the European Parliament, including her own EPP.

“The haggling with [Hungarian PM Viktor] Orbán for his support to Ukraine and especially the €10 billion made her extremely vulnerable for attacks from the European Parliament, where her future majority will be razor-thin,” said one EU official, who was granted anonymity to speak freely.

Weber’s decision to join the lawsuit adds considerable heft, given that his party is the largest in Parliament, and amounts to a show of force by the assembly against the EU executive.

Asked about the move, an EPP official who was granted anonymity to speak about internal matters said: “The EPP isn’t going to hide its positions or pull punches just because the campaign has started. Weber signaled that he opposed the decision to grant Hungary’s funds, and he is consistent with that move.”

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It wasn’t the first time that Weber challenged von der Leyen. The two politicians have baggage going back to 2019, when Weber led the EPP camp to victory in the European Parliament election, only to see national leaders discard his bid for the European Commission in favor of von der Leyen, who at the time was a wildcard choice and a completely unexpected one.

Earlier this year, Weber led his troops on a rebellion against a nature restoration bill backed by von der Leyen’s Commission. He’s also repeatedly applied pressure to pull her toward the right on issues like migration and the Commission’s Green Deal proposal.

But this was the first challenge to her legacy after her official crowning as the EPP’s choice for lead candidate, hinting that Weber has no intention of easing up his pressure on von der Leyen due to the campaign. Indeed, the party is leaning on the Commission president, who governed mainly as a centrist over the past five years, to take a hard right turn on a range of policy issues — and some national conservative parties want nothing to do with her candidacy at all.

That’s not to mention the attacks coming from outside von der Leyen’s supposed allies. In the wake of violent farmers’ protests that targeted EU institutions, far-left and far-right parties are ramping up their attacks on von der Leyen.

No sooner had von der Leyen come out with the idea of creating a European defense commissioner to coordinate weapons procurement did Le Pen’s far-right National Rally come out guns blazing against the idea, saying it would damage countries’ sovereignty.

Despite the temptation to cling to incumbency as long as possible, von der Leyen won’t be able to hide for long. Commission rules demand that she strictly separate her official duties from campaigning, and she is beholden to attending at least seven campaign events in different European countries, potentially including live debates being organized in the coming weeks. Von der Leyen has yet to say whether she will step on stage for any of them.

The temptation to keep acting like “Queen von der Leyen” and reaping the dividends of her high profile on the international stage will be strong. But it won’t stop politics from splashing up on her doorstep.

Barbara Moens and Eddy Wax contributed reporting.