The EU accused von der Leyen of exceeding her authority over her remarks on Iran

ArmInfo. European governments have accused European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of exceeding her authority in the early days of the US and Israeli military campaign against Iran, Politico reports, citing nine diplomats, EU officials, and members of parliament.

Several governments are irritated that von der Leyen has assumed a role typically reserved for the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas. In the first days, the head of the European Commission expressed support for regime change in Tehran and held at least a dozen telephone conversations with EU and Gulf leaders, the publication reports.

According to the sources, the EC President has repeatedly made public statements that go far beyond the consensus among EU members. "I felt like I was hallucinating when I saw Ursula von der Leyen calling the heads of state of the Gulf," said French MEP Nathalie Loiseau, a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs. "She has no diplomatic credentials; she speaks without a mandate or intelligence briefings. Her words have no value other than her personal position," the parliamentarian noted.

"The problem is that the president is putting forward ideas and somehow making commitments to the European Union without first consulting the countries," a senior EU diplomat noted. "She says things that go beyond her mandate," he added.

According to sources, the European Commission president's tweets and conversations with Gulf leaders do not formally reflect the Union's foreign policy position. They express skepticism that von der Leyen, who lacks military assets and a mandate to shape a common European foreign policy position, has anything to offer the Gulf states. (RBC)