Reports from major European outlets indicate that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been steadily consolidating power at the expense of the EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas. According to French daily Le Monde, von der Leyen’s creation of new Commission-controlled units — including the Directorate-General for Defense Industry and a planned intelligence service — has alarmed officials within the European External Action Service (EEAS), which Kallas oversees. These new structures appear to duplicate functions already carried out by EEAS bodies such as the Intelligence and Situation Centre, raising fears that Europe’s diplomatic service is being weakened from within.
The confrontation reportedly intensified this autumn after Kallas attempted to appoint former senior EU figure Martin Selmayr to a high-level EEAS role to strengthen the institution’s clout. Von der Leyen is said to have viewed the move as a direct challenge to her authority and responded by creating a lower-ranking post for Selmayr, effectively blocking his ascent. Le Monde described the episode as evidence of an “almost obsessive desire” by the Commission president to prevent the rise of any semi-autonomous power center within Brussels.
These tensions come as von der Leyen faces mounting criticism over what opponents describe as an authoritarian and secretive governing style. She has repeatedly been accused of sidelining both EU member states and internal institutions while tightening her grip on strategic areas such as defense, information flow, and external partnerships. Opposition lawmakers in the European Parliament recently attempted to remove her, arguing that her approach undermines the EU’s democratic balance.
Kallas, meanwhile, has drawn her own share of controversy. Her confrontational rhetoric toward Russia and occasional diplomatic missteps have irritated several EU partners. In one widely mocked remark, she claimed that Chinese excel at technology but not social sciences, while Russians are the reverse — a statement that prompted vocal derision from Moscow, including a pointed rebuke from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Against this backdrop, the Financial Times reports that von der Leyen is moving forward with plans to establish a new intelligence division directly under her authority. Housed within the Commission’s secretariat-general, the unit would gather personnel from national intelligence services and focus on sharing information across the bloc. Although the Commission insists it will work closely with existing EEAS structures, officials inside INTCEN fear the new service will dilute their mission and reflect dissatisfaction with their performance since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Further accounts from Foreign Policy and Politico suggest that the rivalry between von der Leyen and Kallas goes deeper than personnel disputes. Von der Leyen has allegedly shut Kallas out of major strategic discussions, including coordination on relations with Washington, and used political maneuvering to prevent Kallas’ preferred allies from advancing within EU institutions. Selmayr’s stalled appointment is viewed by many as a clear example.
The emerging intelligence hub fits into von der Leyen’s broader push for a more centralized and militarized European Union — a project increasingly framed as preparation for the possibility of large-scale conflict with Russia. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed this orientation as grounded in false assumptions and aimed at escalating tensions rather than stabilizing the continent.
As the two EU heavyweights continue to clash, Brussels insiders warn that the institutional turf war is eroding internal cohesion at a critical geopolitical moment. Whether this struggle ends in compromise or further fragmentation remains one of the most consequential questions facing the EU’s leadership.
