Euro president's foolish words are a danger to us all

UNLESS you have an unusually obsessive interest in the European Union – which, thank heavens, most of us no longer feel the need to think about much since Brexit – the name Ursula von der Leyen may well mean nothing.

- Stephen Pollard

She is a former German defence minister but, more relevantly, the current president of the European Commission.

Her existence may have passed you by but, I am afraid, her role remains important to us even now we are outside the EU.

Take the stand-off over imports to Northern Ireland, which has already caused huge problems for devolved government there and which could get even worse. Ms Von der Leyen’s outlook and behaviour matter to any hope of resolving the issue.

Which is a deeply depressing thought, because the evidence shows that she is not part of the solution but is herself the problem – or a large part of it.

Last week she spoke to the Irish parliament to mark the 50th anniversary of Ireland’s membership of the EU. An easy gig, you might think – all that’s needed is a speech full of bromides and upbeat platitudes.

Well, no. Instead, the EC president launched into an extraordinary attack on the UK, comparing Ukraine’s war with Russia to Ireland’s “struggle for the right to exist” before it won independence from the UK.

HERE’S what she said: “This country [Ireland] knows what it means to struggle for the right to exist. Today, another European nation is fighting for independence. Of course, Ireland is far away from the front line in Ukraine. But you understand better than most why this war matters so much to all of us.”