European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been named ‘The World’s Most Powerful Woman’ by Forbes magazine for the second year in a row. Von der Leyen served as Germany’s defense minister under Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2013 to 2019. In December 2019, she became the first woman to lead the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch. Under her leadership, the European Commission imposed nearly a dozen packages of sanctions on Moscow and embargoed Russian energy imports, to the detriment of many EU economies. Von der Leyen has promised EU membership to Ukraine, despite multiple member states raising concerns with Kiev’s dire public finances, ongoing armed conflict with Russia, and rampant corruption.

Source: Forbes December 07, 2023 07:44 UTC