European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen is recovering from a extreme case of pneumonia however is not going to attend the weekly assembly of Commissioners.
The president of the European Fee is on the mend and anticipated to renew in-person appointments quickly, amid criticism over lack of communication about her situation over the previous week.
Ursula von der Leyen is not going to chair this week’s School of Commissioners on Wednesday and has requested govt vice chairman Teresa Ribera to step in, a Fee spokesperson confirmed on Monday, including that “the president is recovering effectively”.
Presently recuperating at her residence in Hannover, Germany, Von der Leyen is predicted to renew her exterior engagements by the tip of this week.
She plans to take part within the World Financial Discussion board in Davos subsequent week and attend the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg.
Her workplace introduced on January 3 that the president was cancelling all exterior commitments for the primary two weeks of January attributable to “extreme pneumonia”.
Pneumonia is a respiratory an infection that causes irritation within the air sacs of 1 or each lungs, usually leading to fluid or pus accumulation. Signs can embody persistent coughing, fever, chills, and issue respiratory.
At 66 years previous, von der Leyen falls right into a high-risk group for problems from pneumonia.
The president was hospitalised for over every week from 2 January to 10 January however continued to fulfil her duties throughout her keep. “Her skill to behave was by no means in query,” the spokesperson stated.
Working the EU from a hospital mattress
The disclosure of von der Leyen’s hospitalisation sparked criticism over the Fee’s dealing with of communication to most of the people of her well being circumstances.
Her workforce solely publicly acknowledged her hospitalisation final Friday, resulting in accusations of insufficient transparency.
The Fee spokesperson defended the strategy, stating they supplied “essential details about the president’s well being standing,” together with the severity of her sickness – which hinted at her hospitalisation – and her resolution to cancel exterior engagements.
Whereas confirming that von der Leyen had a extreme case of pneumonia, the spokesperson clarified that she was by no means on a respirator or in intensive care.
“The president was within the place, regardless of being in a hospital, to nonetheless run the Fee by being in day by day contact [with her team], by taking on the calls she needed to take and by making certain that enterprise continued to run,” the spokesperson stated.
Von der Leyen’s well being has since improved, and he or she is predicted to totally resume her official tasks shortly.
