Bjoern Seibert is a German politician who is the current Head of Cabinet for

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding suc ...

, President of the European Commission. He's worked with von der Leyen since she was

Defence Minister of Germany The Federal Minister of Defence (german: Bundesminister der Verteidigung) is the head of the Federal Ministry of Defence and a member of the Federal Cabinet. According to Article 65a of the German Constitution (german: Grundgesetz), the Feder ...

. Seibert coordinated the EU's sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, with his role being described as "key" by a European diplomat.

Early life

Seibert studied political science at the

University of Erfurt The University of Erfurt (german: Universität Erfurt) is a public university located in Erfurt, the capital city of the German state of Thuringia. It was founded in 1379, and closed in 1816. It was re-established in 1994, three years after Germ ...

and in the

Career

He served for six years on the Policy Planning and Advisory Staff of the German Defence Minister under von der Leyen.

European Commission

In 2020, Seibert and von der Leyen were criticized for creating a large backlog of high-level and senior position vacancies at the Commission due to their insistence on having personal control over the appointments. Over 70 director, director general or deputy director general jobs were unfilled as well as over 80 mid-level positions. Over 21% of senior positions across departments were vacant in mid-October according to

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

. He has been criticized for his role as leader of von der Leyen's advisers due to them not taking much input from people outside this inner circle, including from her commissioners. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Seibert was "critical" to the successful European negotiations with the United States regarding international sanctions on Russia. According to an EU diplomat cited by the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'', he was "the only one hat hadan overview on the EU and in constant contact with the US".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seibert, Bjoern Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people) Von der Leyen Commission People of the Russian invasion of Ukraine 21st-century German politicians