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Ursula von der Leyen needs to remember she is a \u201cjust a civil servant\u201d, a Brussels insider has said, days after the European Commission President was accused of acting like a \u201cqueen\u201d.<\/p>\n
Pieter Cleppe, Editor-in-chief of BrusselsReport.eu, offered his withering assessment after an unnamed Brussels official suggested the former German defence minister was \u201cbehaving like a queen\u201d in reaction to her decision to visit Israel after the Hamas terror attacks.<\/p>\n
Writing for Express.co.uk, Mr Cleppe, who headed up the Brussels office of award-winning British EU affairs policy think tank Open Europe for 12 years, said: \u201cWith the new outbreak of conflict between Israel and Hamas, European Commission President von der Leyen seems to have abandoned all concern for whatever EU member states may think about the things she says abroad.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the first days after the terrible Hamas terror raid on Israel, she went all in, supporting Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer actions caused a lot of tensions, not so much because of her precise stance, but because of the fact that it was clearly not in line with EU member states.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> Ursula von der Leyen needs reminding she is not a Queen she is a civil servant[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cFrance openly reminded von der Leyen that she was only speaking in the name of the European Commission, not necessarily of EU member states.\u201d<\/p>\n When it came to the war in Ukraine, Ms von der Leyen had made similarly \u201cassertive statements\u201d, Mr Cleppe pointed out, albeit generally there was more consensus within the bloc on that topic.<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cThe whole thing reminds us all of the fact that the EU\u2019s 27 democracies have different electorates, with different opinions on foreign policy. To reconcile these is not always evident.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is therefore best left to the national diplomatic services, as these are closely in touch with national Parliaments.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever a national Foreign Minister would dare to make certain moves that are not in line with the democratic majority in a member state thinks, he or she is bound to be called to provide an explanation in Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n At an EU level, such scrutiny did not exist, Mr Cleppe warned.<\/p>\n He explained: \u201cThe EU\u2019s foreign service, called European External Action Service (EEAS), is mostly duplicating the work of national foreign ministries while promoting a strong common European message at best.\u201d<\/p>\n Referring to the bloc\u2019s top diplomat and the President of the European Council respectively, he said: \u201cUltimately, somebody should remind Ursula von der Leyen, Josep Borrell and Charles Michel that they are no longer politicians, even if they were once.<\/p>\nIsrael: Nir Barkat on plans for ground invasion of Gaza<\/h3>\n
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