Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, has been diagnosed with “severe pneumonia” and has canceled her commitments for the next two weeks, her office announced on Friday.
Spokesperson Stefan De Keersmaeker stated that von der Leyen’s schedule has been cleared, including a speech she was scheduled to deliver in Lisbon, as well as a visit to Poland for the start of Poland’s Presidency of the European Council, which recently took over the rotating EU presidency for the 27-member bloc.
“She has been affected by severe pneumonia,” said De Keersmaeker in a statement, though he did not provide further details on her condition or the cause of her illness.
At 66 years old, von der Leyen had just begun her second five-year term at the helm of the powerful executive body of the EU.
