The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was hospitalized for pneumonia, her spokesperson confirmed yesterday, shedding light on the seriousness of her health condition for the first time.
“We can confirm that the President was hospitalized for pneumonia treatment and is now back home,” said the Commission’s spokesperson, Arianna Podesta, to Politico.
“She has been in daily contact with her team at the Commission,” she added. “Currently, she is working from home while continuing her recovery from this serious illness.”
This revelation, made more than a week after the Commission first announced von der Leyen’s illness, raises questions about a lack of transparency regarding the EU’s most powerful official, according to a Brussels portal. On Wednesday, when asked whether von der Leyen had been admitted to the hospital, her chief spokesperson, Paula Pinjo, responded by stating that “there is no new information.”
As a result of her illness, the presentation of a key part of her economic strategy has been postponed, as well as a meeting of the College of Commissioners in Poland. However, her team did not mention her hospitalization at the time, which, according to the German news agency DPA, took place at the University Hospital in Hanover and lasted about a week.
The President canceled her engagements in early January due to a “severe pneumonia,” her spokesperson said last Friday, adding that she was recovering in her hometown of Hanover.
Von der Leyen has not yet received an invitation to the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on January 20, Reuters reported.
“If she gets an invitation, we’ll see, but for now there are no plans (to attend the inauguration),” Pinjo said yesterday.
“We will try to establish early contacts with the new administration. Whether this will happen before January 20 or right after, I can’t tell you right now,” she added.
Pinjo did not specify in what form these “contacts” would be made. Bloomberg had previously reported that the Commission plans to arrange a meeting with Trump in Florida.
Trump has broken from tradition and invited several foreign leaders to the ceremony, who in the past would typically send diplomats instead.
Invitations were extended to Chinese President Xi Jinping, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, among others. It is expected that Xi will send a high-ranking envoy.
