Ever since her beloved pony Dolly was killed by wolf GW950m in Germany’s Lower Saxony in September 2022, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has focused on downgrading the protection status of the large carnivore.
But the strength of her relentless personal crusade — which has translated into political lobbying at the highest level — is raising eyebrows among EU diplomats in Brussels. They describe her focus on the Big Bad Wolf as “strange,” “bizarre,” “puzzling” and definitely “pushy.”
“[The protection of the wolf] is not a so very important question and yet von der Leyen is making it a key political issue,” one EU country diplomat granted anonymity to speak candidly told POLITICO. “The political attention and the reasons behind it are a bit over the top.”
At stake is whether the wolf’s protection status should be reduced from “strictly protected” to “protected,” allowing the animals to be killed more easily if they threaten livestock.