EU Commission von der Leyen has fallen ill with ‘severe pneumonia’ and has cancelled all her appointments for the next two weeks, her office has announced.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been diagnosed with “severe pneumonia” and has cancelled her engagements for the next two weeks, her office announced on Friday.
Spokesman Stefan De Keersmaeker stated that von der Leyen’s schedule had been cleared, including a speech she was due to make in Lisbon as well as a visit to Poland for the launch of the Polish Presidency of the European Council, which has recently assumed the EU’s rotating presidency for the 27-member bloc.
“She is dealing with severe pneumonia,” De Keersmaeker said in a statement, though he provided no further details on her condition or the cause of her illness.
At 66, von der Leyen had only just embarked on her second five-year term at the helm of the EU’s powerful executive body.
Additional sources • AP
