
The European Commission denied on Monday that it had tried to cover up the state of health of its president, Ursula von der Leyen, after the head of the EU’s executive branch was hospitalized with severe pneumonia.
Von der Leyen, 66, is the EU’s most high-profile political figure. In September, she marked the start of her second five-year term as commission president by traveling to Ukraine and then to South America for a major trade meeting.