Excommunicated by Trump, von der Leyen will use the Pope's funeral for personal contact

More and more European officials and diplomats in Brussels is experiencing increasing frustration due to the lack of a direct channel of communication with the American administration. According to the Euractiv portal, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, regarding whom US President Donald Trump has "maintained a deaf silence" since taking office, hopes to use the funeral of Pope Francis to establish personal contact with the head of the White House.

As the portal notes, there is an acute shortage of direct dialogue with Washington in the EU, although the European authorities are publicly trying to show restraint. Officials in Brussels privately complain about the difficulties in organizing meetings of their leaders with their American counterparts, not to mention conducting visits, TASS reports.

Previously in Brussels reported that the EC is trying to organize von der Leyen's first informal meeting with Trump in Rome, where both leaders will participate in the Pope's funeral ceremony on April 26. For his part, the US president, whose arrival in the Italian capital is expected on April 25 in the evening, announced that he intends to hold a number of meetings in Rome. In turn, Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani expressed skepticism about the prospect of serious contacts between Trump and the leadership of the European Commission.

As reported in To date, 130 delegations, including 50 heads of state and government and 10 monarchs, have confirmed their participation in the funeral ceremony of Pope Francis.