Ursula von der Leyen to resign as Germany's Defence Minister

Germany's Defence Minister, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced that she will be resigning from her post on Wednesday. The minister disclosed the news on her Twitter account where she said she will ask for the confidence of European Parliament tomorrow and irrespective of the outcome she will be stepping down as Minister of Defence of Germany so that she can serve Europe with all her strength.

My decision for Europe. pic.twitter.com/axEvKXg0oG

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 15, 2019

Ursula was nominated to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as the president of European Commission earlier in July. If elected by the European Parliament she will be the first woman to hold the office. A medical doctor by training, Ursula became the first female Defence Minister of Germany in 2013. A member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she started her career in the cabinet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2005, when she became the minister for family affairs and youth. The German defense minister's candidacy is facing opposition from the Social Democrats (SPD) in her own country, the greens, and the hard left, among others.