Von der Leyen narrowly elected

Germany's Ursula von der Leyen has been narrowly elected president of the EU Commission following a secret ballot among MEPs

Ursula von der Leyen: neue EU-Kommissionspräsidentin Source: AP

The centre-right defence minister will replace Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on 1 November.

Dieter Herrman, editor of Australia's only German language paper has met von der Leyen twice.

He says he's happy that a women got the European Union's top post but he has mixed feelings about von der Leyen and the way she was put up for the position.

Journalist Dieter Herrmann Source: W.Mueller