UK has ‘lost all confidence in Von Der Leyen’ says Kuenssberg

And Hans-Olaf Henkel suggested the European Commission President was more concerned about her image than she was with finding actual solutions. Fellow German Mr Henkel, who stood down from the assembly in 2019, was speaking after criticism of Mrs von der Leyen by Olaf Scholz, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Vice Chancellor.

With figures suggesting just three percent of the 450 million people who live in the EU have had their jabs, Mr Scholz, who is also deputy leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), said the bloc’s vaccine rollout had “gone to s***”.

He also suggested “what is going on in Brussels” with the EU Commission and Mrs von der Leyen was “the next mess”.

Mr Henkel said: “His criticism about her handling is more than justified.

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“Under her leadership, the German army lost readiness and defence credibility.

“Whenever something went wrong she blamed her staff, the officers or the soldiers but never herself.”

Mr Henkel added: “That behaviour she clearly showed again when faced with criticism of her handling the purchase of vaccines or the scandalous proposal to introduce border controls in Ireland.

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“She also seems to work primarily for her image which explains why she constantly communicates with the media obviously at the expense of talking with colleagues, staff or experts.”

Nevertheless, Mr Henkel, a former member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party who quit after it moved sharply to the right, said Mr Scholz himself was not without blame.

He explained: “While his points are valid he ignores his own responsibility in handling the Corona crisis.

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“Let‘s not forget he is Vice-Chancellor and as such part of the German Government.”

The decision to “abdicate the responsibility for purchasing vaccines to the EU” was not only supported by him but was ingrained in the DNA of Mr Scholz’s left-of-centre party, which was “constantly pushing for more Europe”, Mr Henkel said.

He added: “As such, he is far from credible as a critic of what Brussels did or did not.

“He has already been nominated as a candidate for Chancellorship for the forthcoming elections in the fall.

“In other words: he tries to be both, Government AND Opposition. He is already in campaigning mode.”

Moreover, with elections scheduled for later this year, at which point Mrs Merkel is scheduled to step down as Chancellor, Mr Scholz would do little to disrupt the CDU/SPD coalition which is currently in power, irrespective of his latest remarks.

Mr Henkel said: “It will hold until the election. The SPD has currently no more than 15 percent in the polls and it would be suicidal for Scholz to push for earlier elections.”

Publicly at least, Mrs Merkel has continued to back former colleague Mrs von der Leyen, telling German broadcaster RTL: “I believe the basic decisions were correct.”

However, Markus Soeder, Prime Minister of Bavaria and the leader of long-time CDU allies the Christian Social Union (CSU), was less convinced, telling ZDF, another German television station: “The procedure was accompanied by many misjudgments.”

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