Iran war deepens EU’s internal divisions following Von der Leyen’s world order remarks

It wasn’t so much the speech itself as the defeatism and the lack of proposals. And the hierarchical misstep. The words of Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission — the European Union’s executive cabinet — declaring the rules-based world order finished while simultaneously justifying the war launched by the U.S. And Israel against Iran, have caused turbulence in the EU. Her remarks have exacerbated the criticism that the German conservative leader has been accumulating in recent months for her position, considered by many to be too close to Washington and Tel Aviv, as well as for her insufficient condemnation of the excesses of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Once again governments, members of the European parliament, and analysts are accusing the head of the European Commission of overstepping her bounds in foreign policy and of wanting to be the voice of Europe in her own way. Or, at the very least, in Germany’s way.

“Europe can no longer be a custodian for the old-world order, of a world that is gone and will not return,” Von der Leyen declared in a speech in which she asserted that although the EU “will always defend and uphold the rules-based system,” it can no longer rely on it as it is no longer effective in defending its interests and providing protection. The president of the European Council, the socialist António Costa, and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the liberal Kaja Kallas, disagreed.

“We Europeans must defend the rules-based international order. We must defend the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations,” the Portuguese official told dozens of European ambassadors stationed around the world on Tuesday in a speech in which, unlike Von der Leyen, he identified and blamed the U.S. (And Russia) as the creators of the new international disorder. “This multipolar world requires multilateral solutions, not spheres of influence where power politics replaces international law,” Costa emphasized. “Violations of international law must not be accepted, whether in Ukraine, Greenland, Latin America, Africa, Gaza, or the Middle East. Human rights violations must not be tolerated, not in Iran, Sudan, or Afghanistan,” he concluded.

European Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera, the key socialist counterweight in a very right-leaning European Commission, also disagreed with the German commissioner’s argument. “It is essential that Europe today resolutely defend the value of international law,” said Ribera.

Von der Leyen’s remarks — in which she also stated that no one should shed tears for a regime that has “slaughtered 17,000 young people” — have caused a stir in several capitals, among some commissioners, and in certain groups within the European parliament, who on Monday demanded clarification and even went so far as to explore the possibility of bringing a no-confidence vote against the EC chief. The uproar has been such that the Commission has rushed to add nuance to Von der Leyen’s words, claiming that the conservative politician is not showing disrespect for the rules-based system and that her speech has been misinterpreted.

In Spain, Pedro Sánchez’s government has strongly disagreed with Germany’s disruptive vision. “Europe must defend the international order because the alternative to international order is disorder,” said Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on Tuesday. “There is no opposition between an old order and a new order. There is opposition between international order and disorder, and if we continue to opt for disorder, we will soon arrive at chaos. And where there is no law, there is just force, the law of the jungle,” the Spanish foreign minister declared.

“The problem is neither an ‘old’ nor a ‘new’ world order,” said Iratxe García, leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats parliamentary group. “The problem is those who, through their complacency, allow autocrats to violate it. The EU must demand compliance with the rules, stand up to autocrats, and defend peace. There are no more excuses,” she added.

Underlying this new controversy is another one that has been brewing for some time: Von der Leyen’s voracious appetite for power, as she absorbs foreign policy responsibilities through various actions. This controversy arose in the previous legislative term, when she faced criticism from her commissioners, including Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, and the former High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. On Tuesday, Breton criticized the actions of the head of the European Commission. “When the Commission behaves like an autonomous diplomatic actor, duplicating or contradicting the message of heads of state and government, it dilutes the European voice,” he said in a lengthy article published on social media.

The French government has issued a direct warning through Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who invoked European treaties. “The High Representative directs the Union’s common foreign and security policy. She contributes to the development of this policy through her proposals and implements it as an agent of the Council,” he said.

Discontent with Von der Leyen is growing in countries like France and Spain. And not only there, diplomatic sources indicate. “The problem is that she doesn’t speak to defend a common position, but rather her own. She doesn’t express the general sentiment,” a high-ranking EU source points out. A couple of weeks ago, the German politician sparked outrage in several countries by sending the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Duvravka Šuica, to the inauguration ceremony of Donald Trump’s controversial Board of Peace, a body that claims to seek peace for Gaza but in which Gazans are not represented, while regimes with, at the very least, questionable human rights records are included, such as Belarus and Saudi Arabia. Von der Leyen did not request permission or consult with the member states, and the Commission justified it by claiming that Šuica was participating as an “observer.”

Costa also differed from Von der Leyen on this point. The president of the European Council, the figure responsible for leading the heads of state and government in setting EU priorities and the Union’s representation abroad, emphasized that when someone tries to replace the United Nations with another institution, the Union cannot participate in its meetings. “Not even as an observer,” he stressed.

As was the case with Israel’s war on Gaza after the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, when Von der Leyen received strong criticism for traveling to Tel Aviv and showing support for Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on the day the Israeli army began the siege of the Strip, the attack launched by Trump and Netanyahu on Iran has stretched the seams of a European Union that needs reforms and resilience to deal with the global disorder fueled by Trump.

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