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An Almost Unbelievable Speech by Ms. von der Leyen

English Pages, 18. 9. 2026

On Wednesday, September 16, the President of the European Commission delivered in Brussels what is known as the State of the Union address. The text and the formulations she used go beyond anything we have known in the past. Before getting to the main points, however, two things need to be emphasized.

Ms. von der Leyen constantly substitutes the word “Europe” for “European Union.” Europe is a continent, whereas the European Union is an organization created by people. Similarly, America is a continent, while the United States of America is one of the states on that continent. This is, of course, a persistent attitude of Brussels officials and ideologues, but we cannot accept it. Even the closing exclamations – “Es lebe Europa. Long live Europe” – are amusing. Europe is not a living organism and therefore cannot “live.” It can exist.

Ms. von der Leyen considers the challenges of today’s world to be extraordinary, but her statement that in this world “Europe has chosen to go its own way” presupposes that Europe makes decisions. It does not. Decisions are being made for Europe through the mouth of Ms. von der Leyen. The phrase “Europe is here for Europeans” implies that Europe stands above Europeans. That makes no sense.

Ms. von der Leyen gives the impression that she is starting something new. As if there were no past. As if she had not been running the European Commission since 2019. When the highest-ranking European official says that the European Union is being “suffocated” by bureaucracy, it is nothing other than an absence of self-reflection.

The speech contains a number of completely indefensible formulations. In September 2026, the priority is to “kick-start the European economy.” What does that mean? What exactly does Ms. von der Leyen want to kick-start? Are we at some kind of crisis point in the economic cycle? Is Europe in a crisis? None of this is true. She says that energy prices are “structurally too high.” As a professor of economics, I must say that I am unfamiliar with the expression “structurally high prices.” Prices are either high or low. And if they rise rapidly, there is a reason for it. According to her, “Russia cut us off from gas supplies.” We cut ourselves off from gas supplies from Russia. There is nothing structural about that. And it is logical that we are now bearing the costs of that decision. If Ms. von der Leyen thinks we can solve the problem by establishing yet another bureaucratic body, the “European Critical Raw Materials Corporation,” that is just another childish dream.

Ms. von der Leyen is extremely green. This summer was exceptionally warm, but there is no point in saying that “this summer was a summer of truth.” At the same time, she threatens that the summer months of this year will in the future be “the coolest” in history. Her proposals for solutions remain, we will establish an “Alliance for Climate Risk Insurance.” She also promises to create a new European “Water Initiative.” The statement “this summer must never happen again” is particularly irrational.

Artificial intelligence is “rapidly becoming a foundational layer of our economy and security” according to Ms. Leyen. Did she really mean a layer? Or what? Speeches can accommodate anything, but is artificial intelligence a layer of the economy? And a layer of security? Someone among her advisers should advise her on this.

She wants to ensure the protection of our security. But what does the statement “we must stay in the game” mean? What game are we talking about? Who is playing against whom? And what is at stake? And if it is a game, were we not in it until now? What has changed?

We must also provide working people with “fair chances.” Therefore, she proposes preparing a “Quality Jobs Act.” This goes beyond even the proposals of the Soviet Communist Party Politburo.

In Europe, “some even want to restrict women’s rights. To take us back to a time when women were second-class citizens.” And Ms. von der Leyen adds, “we will defend our rights.” Is she merely saying this, or does she actually believe it?

A complete novelty is her statement that we should work “to open the way for Canada to become the EU’s first associated member.” Those of us who have been studying the European Union for decades know that there is no such thing as associated membership of the EU. The fact that it was mentioned in a 2018 European Commission report to the European Parliament as some possible future option requiring changes to the existing treaties is something entirely different. Yet von der Leyen wants to make the Arctic “a joint project” with Canada. President Trump’s immediate reaction was to call it a ridiculous and hostile idea and to say that the United States would respond by imposing very high tariffs, or even by cutting off trade with the EU. His reaction was logical.

I consider Ms. von der Leyen’s statement that we “must not allow our democracies to be dismantled by the lackeys and puppets of authoritarians” to be particularly important. This, too, is a statement worthy of the former Moscow Politburo. “Lackeys” and “puppets” are words that those of us who experienced it remember from the communist era. Fortunately, not since then. Nevertheless, Ms. von der Leyen uses them and therefore wants to establish — with nothing but European taxpayers’ money — a “Centre for Democratic Resilience.” This is truly unbelievable.

Many more of such absurd statements could be quoted. Nevertheless, Ms. von der Leyen wants to “take the future into our own hands again.” We should not allow her to do so. It is enough to look at the present she herself has helped create for us.

Václav Klaus, September 17, 2026