Media: EU foreign policy chief sees von der Leyen as overly controlling

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas privately views European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as exercising excessive control over decision-making, according to senior officials, amid deepening tensions between the two leaders.

Officials cited by Politico said relations between von der Leyen and Kallas are worse than those between the Commission president and Kallas’ predecessor, Josep Borrell, whose relationship with von der Leyen was already described as “very bad.”

The friction has been heightened by recent institutional changes that have curtailed Kallas’ authority. Last year, the Commission removed responsibility for the Mediterranean region from her remit with the creation of the Directorate-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf (DG MENA). At the same time, the Commission has been advancing plans to reduce the size of the European External Action Service (EEAS).

In an effort to push back, Kallas sought to appoint Martin Selmayr, the former chief of staff to ex-Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, as a powerful deputy secretary-general. According to officials, the move was blocked by von der Leyen’s office.

Kallas “privately complains that she [von der Leyen] is a dictator but there’s little or nothing she can do about that,” one senior official said.

By Sabina Mammadli