r/AskEurope • u/New_Classroom_2540 • 2d ago
Politics Why is Ursula von der Leyen hated so much ?
I don't think that she is as bad as some people claim her to be. She seems to be quite level-headed, yet it seems that a lot of people in the EU hate her.
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u/19MKUltra77 Spain 2d ago
She sees herself as the leader of Europe, as if she had been elected by us, and that’s far from the truth. She doesn’t have any leadership skills, zero charisma, and her only “merit” is probably her background and contact network.
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u/kiru_56 Germany 2d ago
This woman made a career for herself in the CDU because her father was once Minister-President of Lower Saxony and she became a close friend of Angela Merkel. And when her position in Germany became untenable due to the scandals, her friend Angela secured her a new job in Bruxelles.
The only election this woman ever actually won herself was a seat in the Lower Saxony state parliament over 20 years ago.
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u/Andechser 2d ago
And her French skills, of course. It was the French who got her into office after all. And a strong German at the head of the commission would certainly not have been to their liking.
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u/Larissalikesthesea Germany 2d ago
She is especially hated in the German internet because she was a proponent of censorshp on the internet (and might still be) when she was youth minister. The German netizens called her Zensursula (censorship-Ursula)
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u/LittleSchwein1234 Slovakia 2d ago
She's good on Russia, but that's about it. She's trying to turn the EU into a surveillance state and the economy is not doing well, in good part by her contribution.
She's not as bad as Fico but we could do much better. I wish we had someone like Carney.
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u/TXDobber 2d ago
I’d even take Macron over her, or Mette Frederiksen. I think both of them would do better in that role than they currently do in their national roles, especially Macron, who seems to poll decently everywhere that’s not France.
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u/LittleSchwein1234 Slovakia 2d ago
Macron is unpopular because he's pushing through necessary stuff like the pension reform. We're on the same route, Boomers continue to vote for Fico because he gives them money, while the debt continues to grow and grow because we can't afford it. But we don't have a Macron in power to stop thos madness.
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u/Silly-Snow1277 Germany 2d ago
Do I hate her? No.
Do I think she's doing a decent job at the EU? Kind of.
Am I wary about her? Yes. As German defense minister she was involved in a scandal regarding consultancy contracts that were somewhere in the 100 millions without the proper processes, oversight etc. (And with what results to come out of that whole mess???) And then some text messages probably regarding this just disappeared from her phone? Oh please...
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u/No-Bake-730 Germany 2d ago
She is a rich pampered lady elevated beyond her abilities. As Minister of Family and Youth she was okay since no one really cares except when she has told everybody how much she loves censorship. Now she can do that in all of Europey how great!
Her time as German Defense Minister has eroded the Bundeswehr, concentrating on "current social issue number 42" instead of silly things like the defense of the country. Oh, and she decided that an assault rifle may heat up if you use it as a machine gun ... Probably something her consulting firm didn't tell her.
The bait and switch for her instead of Manfred Weber after Merkel and Sarkozy (?) did the Lagarde-Uschi horse trade just made me despise her even more. It's a little ironic since any non-commision post in the EU is usually considered being put to pasture.
So I was mildly annoyed to pretty pissed off by her before she even entered the European stage.
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u/PoxonAllHoaxes 2d ago
I certainly dislike her. She is a pompous nincompoop. Of course they all are but she is like the embodiment of that: an elite that is letting Europe go to hell and in particular yammering about the rise of the right while doing NOTHING to stop it by offering their peoples any sort of idea of what else to do, not to mention totally refusing to prepare just in case Russia does invade. In short it seems like she embodies the elites' idea of Après nous le déluge, hoping that shit will hit the fan after they're dead and in the meantime enjoying the good life.
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u/Captlard Born live: / 2d ago
I am sure many people, myself included, do not hate her.
This happens with all politicians.
Ignore the noise and the algorithmic bubble.
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u/Skolloc753 2d ago
Multiple reasons.
One is certainly that Europe and the European Union is in a critical phase. COVID, the war in Ukraine, institutional problems, economic woes etc all tend to contribute that more and more people look very closely to what is actually happening. And while the EU is perhaps not working worse or better than other international institutions or at other times, in a crisis someone prominent is always more exposed.
Then there are indeed deals with the devils, incompetency, shady stuff and controversial decisions. Not all her fault, but under her regency. Especially while the EU can only provide some of the answer, while national governments have to provide the other part of the answer. And yet every government seems to be ok with blaming the EU for everything and anything. Especially in times where nationalistic and/or right-wing parties are on the rise.
Last but not least: a powerful woman. There is enough misogyny in the usual comments and discussions about her, her work and the EU to last one or two lifetimes.
SYL
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u/Socmel_ Italy 2d ago
Yes, the EU institutions are under attack (sometimes genuine critique, sometimes just disingenuous malicious attacks designed to weaken us all) just like the rest of the rule based international order, which it descends from.
The UN and its agencies like the WHO, the UNCHR and UNESCO are also attacked by the same people. Same for WTO (is it even still alive?), and partly NATO.
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u/Even-Space Ireland 2d ago
Depends on who you ask. Some would say she’s too lax on Israel and others would say that her climate/economic regulations are much too harsh
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u/Express_Tax_2089 Croatia 2d ago
I don't know who hates her except extremists on left and right. I love her. Amazing leader for the EU.
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u/SiemQonflict Belgium 2d ago
in what way is she an amazing leader for the eu?
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u/Express_Tax_2089 Croatia 2d ago
I feel like she's a great president of the European commission, she has very good foreign policy, she did several excellent trade deals and deepened our alliances and partnerships with other countries (especially Canada).
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u/slashcleverusername Canada 2d ago
Possibly she has earned a bit of it on her own, but mostly her adversaries, (and Europe’s adversaries) pay for her to be hated. Some people hire mourners for a funeral. Others pay to spread hate about leaders from places that have human rights, legal rights, environmental rights, labour standards, etc.
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u/BackgroundEqual2168 2d ago
Right wing populists love to criticize the EU and Leyen as the representative of its policy. Leftists and centrists are glad to have har.
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u/SiemQonflict Belgium 2d ago
her party is literally centre right? the left, greens and socs & dems constantly disagree with her so that's completely wrong
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2d ago edited 2d ago
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u/SiemQonflict Belgium 2d ago
why should we tolerate an unelected lying hypocrite whose political career was nothing but scandal after scandal in germany and only failed upwards into the position because she was besties with merkel? this has nothing to do with left or right wing extremism, i can't name one good thing she has done for us.
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u/BrickEnvironmental37 Ireland 2d ago
She has failed upwards her entire life. She is weak. A careerist. Has no leadership skills. She acts at times like she has a free reign to say what she likes. There are a corruption concerns over messages sent to Pfizer via text and were deleted for some reason.
There's lots to dislike.