‘Bored to Death’: European Commissioner Does Her Knitting During Major EU Speech

EU Chief Von der Leyen may have been speaking of destiny, Ukraine, and the “call of history” at her State of the Union speech on Wednesday, but at least one commissioner saw the grand occasion as a chance to catch up on her crafts.

The incongruous sight of Europe’s Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson clicking away with her needles during a landmark speech in the Parliamentary hemicycle prompted bemused reactions online.

Brexit leader and former long-serving member of the European Parliament Nigel Farage was among those offering his take, remarking: “Even Ursula von der Leyen’s own EU Commissioners are bored to death with what she has to say!”.

During the speech, European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — Germany’s former scandal-hit defence minister — spoke of drawing Ukraine into the European Union. This, she said, was the “call of history” and the bloc would be “at Ukraine’s side every step of the way. For as long as it takes”.

While Commissioner Johansson took to social media after the speech to signal her support for the migration pact discussed in the speech, she did not make reference to her self-amusement in the chamber. Nevertheless, knitting it part of the political identity of the Swedish politician: she grabbed headlines in 2021 for knitting through another Von der Leyen speech and tweeted in 2020 that she’d knitted gift socks for her colleagues.