The newly appointed president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will visit Ethiopia on her first official trip outside the European Union (EU).
Ursula von der Leyen, is a top German politician and the current president of the European Commission after her appointment yesterday, December 1, 2019. Before her appointment, she was the longest-serving member of Angela Markel's cabinet in the federal government of Germany from 2005 to 2019.
She took over office from Jean-Claude Juncker, a Luxembourg politician, who served as President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. Before his appointment as president of the European Commission, he was the 23rd Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and the Minister for Finances from 1989 to 2009.
After her appointment as president of the European Commission, she announced her decision to visit Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia this weekend on what will go down in record as her first official trip outside the EU.
"I decided to go to Africa for my first trip outside the EU.
"I will go to Addis Ababa on Friday to meet African Union representative Moussa Faki, Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed and Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde, the only woman at the head of an African country," she announced during an interview with Brussels press agencies on Sunday.
"I will be back in Brussels on Sunday," von der Leyen added.
According to reports, Von der Leyen took up her new position as president of the European Commission on Sunday, a month later than initially planned.
She got straight to work with a series of telephone calls to heads of G7 and G20 member countries.
She spoke to the Chinese, South Korean, Indonesian, Australian and Turkish heads of state.
Von der Leyen will go to Madrid on Monday for COP25, where she will speak about her "Green Deal" for the EU, which she promised to deliver during the first 100 days of her mandate.
"My stay in Madrid will be short. It will just be a run-down of what we are planning. But Madrid will be the launch of the Green Deal," she explained.
About the European Commission
The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU. (Source: Wikipedia)
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