Ursula von der Leyen seeking second term as head of EU Commission

Ursula von der Leyen has announced her intention to run for a second term as EU commission president (Markus Schreiber/AP)

Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen will seek a second term as president of the European Union’s powerful Commission in a move that could make her the most significant politician representing the bloc’s 450 million citizens in a generation.

Following five years of leading the 27-nation bloc through multiple crises, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the first two years of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the 65-year-old was put forward by her German Christian Democratic Union party.