Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (German: [ˈʊʁzula ˈɡeːɐ̯tʁuːt fɔn dɐ ˈlaɪən] (listen)) (née Albrecht; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding successive positions in Angela Merkel's cabinet, most recently as Minister of Defence. Von der Leyen is a member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its EU counterpart, the European People's Party (EPP).
