LETTER FROM BRUSSELS

Recently, several journalists covering European affairs in Brussels complained about how little regard European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has for the press. On the Commission's official WhatsApp group for journalists, they lamented the rare opportunities she has granted them since assuming office five years ago. "We're at an unprecedented level of information control," said Jean Quatremer, Brussels correspondent for the French newspaper Libération, who has covered EU affairs for 38 years.

Whether is was a coincidence or a subtle act of defiance, the former minister under Angela Merkel decided to hold a press conference a few days later – on Sunday, March 9, at noon, triggering fresh frustration within the same WhatsApp group. "If there's no interest in a Sunday press conference, we can cancel it," responded her spokesperson, Paula Pinho, effectively shutting down the complaints.

This cat-and-mouse game between von der Leyen and the 760 accredited journalists covering EU institutions is nothing new. It reached a peak in early January, when the Commission president, suffering from severe pneumonia, concealed her hospitalization. She remained at home in Hanover, while Pinho repeatedly insisted she was "continuing to perform her duties" – even if that meant misrepresenting the reality of her condition.

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