Ursula von der Leyen has been confirmed as the European commission’s first female president and the first German in the job for more than 50 years. Von der Leyen committed in her speech to ensuring full gender equality among the 28 commissioners that she would lead in Brussels. Von der Leyen then read for a medical degree, becoming a gynaecologist, and only entered politics at 42. “Lady Justice is blind – she will defend the rule of law wherever it is attacked,” Von der Leyen had told the parliament. Von der Leyen, a close ally of Angela Merkel, becomes the first German commission president since Walter Hallstein served from 1958 to 1967.

Source: The Guardian July 16, 2019 17:40 UTC