Von der Leyen has appointed her special envoy for the war in Ukraine. Who is Bjoern Seibert?

Brussels. Ursula von der Leyen has appointed the European Union’s envoy for the Ukraine negotiations. His name is Bjoern Seibert and he is the Chief of Staff to the Commission President herself. There has been no public consultation with heads of state and government. There was no formal appointment procedure by the European Council. Not even an internal debate within the Commission. It is a fait accompli because – as they explain in the corridors of power in Brussels – there is only one seat at that table for the EU, alongside a representative from NATO and the national security advisers from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and, more occasionally, Italy. Although he does not formally represent all Europeans, Seibert has taken the EU’s seat at the table that matters – the one where Ukraine engages with Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Kitkoff and Jared Kushner, before and after they shuttle between Vladimir Putin and his subordinates. This occurred in Miami on 9 October, when the meeting convened by the Americans was abruptly cut short by the Ukrainians following Trump’s announcement of his diesel deal with Putin. It happened again in Oslo on Tuesday, when Zelensky met with Witkoff alongside the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, and the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Store.

A staunch loyalist to von der Leyen, for whom he served as chief of staff when she was Germany’s defence minister, Seibert has become the most powerful figure not only within the Commission, but across all EU institutions. It is he who makes the most important strategic decisions or fine-tunes the details of the Commission’s legislative proposals. In Brussels, the expression ‘Seibert thinking’ is used, not ‘von der Leyen thinking’. Since Trump returned to the White House in 2025, it has been Seibert who has directly managed relations with the United States. And he has set the tone: accommodation and submission to the American leader in order to limit the economic damage caused by his tariff wars and the security risks arising from the US’s disengagement from Europe. Initially viewed with suspicion by the Trump administration due to his excellent relations with Jack Sullivan, Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser, Seibert has managed to win over his new counterparts as well. He now has excellent relations with Witkoff and Kushner. The invitation to the meeting in Miami on 9 October came from them. Until the summer, Pedro Lourtie, the chief of staff to the President of the European Council, also attended the meetings on Ukraine, as it is António Costa who represents the 27 EU heads of state and government. This is no longer the case.

Seibert’s presence can be justified by the fact that the Commission holds the leverage of economic sanctions. But ‘Seibert’s thinking’ on Ukraine goes further. As far as the Commission is concerned, the EU is unable to support Kyiv’s defence without the United States. The choice is one of pragmatism in the face of a transactional Trump, who makes no distinction between trade and war. Thus, the Commission ties its own hands in all areas of interest to the Trump Administration: a tariff agreement that penalises the EU, inaction in the face of abuses by digital platforms, the postponement of restrictions on methane emissions, and no direct criticism when Trump attacks Ukraine. Despite these decisions running counter to Kyiv’s interests, the Commission views Washington’s resumption of negotiations as a positive development, echoing Seibert’s stance. The Commission hopes that this betrayal will subside after the mid-term elections and is even convinced that Trump might offer Putin a way to save face and bring the war to an end through a ‘Yalta 2.0’ agreement with Xi Jinping.