Ursula von der Leyen Announces Campaign Team for EU Commission Re-election: Seibert and Winterstein to Take Unpaid Leave

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced her team for her campaign for a second five-year term.

Her head of Cabinet, Björn Seibert, will take a leave of absence to run the campaign, while observing EU guidelines against using Commission resources.

Von der Leyen's campaign spokesperson will be Alexander Winterstein, currently a senior civil servant in the Commission's communications directorate-general.

The EU executive promoted Winterstein from the competition policy directorate-general to a new role during the European People's Party (EPP) gathering in Bucharest, endorsing von der Leyen for a second term.

The timing raised questions from journalists, but Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer stated that the promotion was normal and Winterstein had not worked on the EPP campaign.

Both Winterstein and Seibert will take unpaid leave from their Commission positions and return after the June 10 election.

Von der Leyen, the current European Commission president, is officially launching her campaign for re-election on Sunday, but she will continue in her role throughout the campaign period.

Her two advisors, Seibert and Winterstein, have already started working for her campaign.

However, they will only be officially part of the campaign after the European elections on May 26.

Von der Leyen will need to distinguish her campaign activities from her duties as Commission president to comply with EU guidelines.

The text discusses the upcoming campaign of German politician Ursula von der Leyen to become the next President of the European Commission.

While she is currently the frontrunner, there is no guarantee she will win as EU leaders must nominate her after the election, and a majority of MEPs must support her in a secret vote.

Von der Leyen's digital adviser, Anthony Whelan, will serve as acting head of her Cabinet in the meantime.