The woman at the heart of Europe

Just days EUGEU EUafter returned from a controversial visit to China on April 7th, she had been due to fly to South America to nudge a trade deal along. In a small act of mercy, the meeting with the Brazilian president has had to be postponed. She probably needs the breather. In the past four months her diary has included a visit to President Joe Biden in Washington, an address to the Canadian parliament, tea with King Charles, a guest appearance at a German cabinet meeting, repeat summits of the ’s 27 national heads in Brussels and trips to see the leaders of Britain, Estonia, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Ukraine. Next month she will jet off to attend the 7 summit in Japan.These jaunts are no grandstanding indulgence. The is in the . War in Europe has forced a recasting of its six-decade peace project. Mrs von der Leyen is shaping the response to the challenges buffeting the , from missing Russian gas to anaemic defence spending. Its economy, only just out of covid-19, is on a new set of tracks, the better to counter America’s protectionist green subsidies, lessen its over-reliance on China and deal with the imperatives of climate change.