The spokeswoman of the European Commission, Paula Pinho, stated that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is working remotely despite pneumonia and there is no need to appoint her deputy. Von der Leyen canceled his trip to Poland for the meeting of the European Commission due to illness. The Chairman of the Commission had a telephone conversation with Georgia Meloni before the meeting of the Italian Prime Minister with Donald Trump.
Ursula von der Leyen was supposed to participate in the meeting of the visit of the European Commission in Gdansk on January 9 and 10. This meeting was on the occasion of the beginning of Poland’s presidency in the Council of the European Union. Due to severe swelling of the head of the commission, the arrival of the entire EC delegation to Gdansk was cancelled.
READ MORE: Health problems of the head of the European Commission. Ursula von der Leyen cancels her visit to Poland
The illness raised questions about whether the leadership of the Commission should not be taken over by another person, according to the rules – the Spanish Teresa Ribera, among others, for competitiveness and clean transformation, the highest among the six deputies of von der Leyen.
When asked about such an event, Pinho replied that there was no need to look for von der Leyen’s place because she was able to perform her duties remotely.
As the speaker emphasized, in the first two weeks of January, the President of the European Commission only canceled “external commitments”, such as his visit to Gdańsk, while he performs the rest of the duties remotely. He added that von der Leyen is expected to return to work in mid-January. However, it is not yet clear whether the external meeting of the European Commission will be held in Gdansk in the first month of the year.
Ursula von der Leyen RONALD WITTEK/EPA/PAP
Ursula von der Leyen’s conversation with the Prime Minister of Italy
As part of her remote work, von der Leyen had a phone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni before traveling to the US, where she met with President-elect Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago estate, a European Commission spokesman announced. in Florida on Saturday.
Ursula von der Leyen and Georgia Meloni in a photo dated October 16, 2024PAP/EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
Meloni is one of the first leaders that Trump received in Florida after the US presidential election. Previously, in such circumstances, he, among others, with the Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán and the President of Argentina Javier Miley.
>> georgia melony at trump headquarters. They ate dinner and watched a movie. “I’m here with a fantastic woman”
Donald Trump and Georgia MeloniReuters
The meeting between the Prime Minister of Italy and the President-elect of Italy took place before the visit of Joe Biden, the soon-to-be-elected President of Italy, to Rome.
Main photo: RONALD WITTEK/EPA/PAP
