Queen of Europe: The surprising side to Ursula von der Leyen
Power Play
POLITICO
4.2 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 1 August 2024
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
She’s the “queen of Europe” and her reign is set for another five years. Ursula von der Leyen’s reelection as president of the European Commission comes amid the war in Ukraine and a rise of the far right. She is a figure who seeks to bring calm to political storms. But could the outcome of the race for the White House change that?
Host Anne McElvoy talks to two of POLITICO’s keenest observers of the transatlantic relationship, Editor-in-Chief Jamil Anderlini and Jakob Hanke Vela who is heading to Washington to launch POLITICO's new DC Decoded newsletter, linking Washington and Berlin.
Later, she'll speak to a VDL insider — Virginijus Sinkevičius served as European commissioner for environment until two weeks ago and is now a member of the European Parliament and a vice president of the Green group.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So let us do it again. Let us make the choice of strength. Let us make the choice of leadership. |
| 0:07.0 | Let us make the choice of Europe. |
| 0:10.0 | Thank you very much and long live Europe. |
| 0:15.0 | The late Henry Kissinger once asked who the US should call if it wanted to speak to Europe. |
| 0:22.0 | These days there's one answer to that, |
| 0:25.4 | aligned to the so-called Queen of Europe Ursula von der Leyen. Newly elected |
| 0:30.5 | as president of the European Commission for a second term, she cemented her power at the heart of Europe and her role as its most |
| 0:38.1 | high-profile institutional figure across the Atlantic. |
| 0:52.0 | Welcome to Power Play,ico's Weekly Podcast. |
| 0:53.0 | I'm Anne McElvoy. |
| 0:54.0 | If you haven't already, please take a moment to follow the podcast |
| 0:57.6 | wherever you're listening |
| 0:58.7 | so you don't miss an episode |
| 1:00.4 | with a cast you might like to hear from in an extraordinary political year. |
| 1:05.0 | Thunder Lion is a striking figure, the swept back blonde hair, the pristine white jackets, |
| 1:11.0 | the mode of controlled calm. |
| 1:13.6 | She's also a shapeshifter in European politics, |
| 1:17.1 | an acolite of Angela Merkel, who rose |
| 1:19.5 | to the role of defense minister in Germany, |
| 1:22.4 | but who had a ministerial career that often felt choppy and |
| 1:26.0 | erratic. |
| 1:27.1 | It didn't stop her powering on to the role of President of the China green policies and how far to back the war in Ukraine and at what cost. |
... |
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