“The future of our continent is written here in Ukraine,” said the president of the European Commission on Thursday, after a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv. This was his fourth visit to Ukraine.
by Virginie Malingre (kyiv, Special Envoy)
In his own way, sober and all in control, Ursula von der Leyen is determined. Since Russia has invaded Ukraine almost a year ago, the President of the Commission has pleaded the cause of kyiv, who wants to join the European family. The case is not heard as the country is far from European standards and as its membership in the European Union (EU) would transform the face of community construction. But the former Minister of Angela Merkel is convinced of this: this is the meaning of history.
The fate of democracies, attacked by authoritarian regimes, is at stake, and “the future of our continent is written here in Ukraine,” said Ursula von der Leyen, Thursday, February 2, ‘Coming from a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv. This was his fourth visit to Ukraine. “If Putin wants to kill me, he will do it anyway,” she used to respond to those of her interlocutors who are worried about seeing her go to this country at war. This time, the president of the community executive had taken fifteen commissioners.
Wednesday evening, the whole team took a train under close surveillance, from Poland, to reach kyiv. Sitting on his berth, the migration commissioner, Margaritis Schinas, revised his files, while looking at his favorite Greek political program on his computer. Some cabins later, the Danish Margrethe Vestager (competition), the Latvian Valdis Dombrovskis (Commerce) and the Slovak Maros Sefcovic (interinstitutional relations) shared their picnic, accompanying it with Vodka (Swedish) or whiskey. The Belgian Didier Reynders (to justice) and the Italian Paolo Gentiloni (to the economy) have withdrawn quite early.
“We have written our common future today”
Thursday morning, the fifteen commissioners found the Ukrainian ministers concerned by their portfolio in order to advance cooperation between Brussels and kyiv. On the program: facilitate access to Ukrainian products to the European market, help Ukraine to cover its energy needs by delivering to it in particular 35 million LED bulbs, participate in the reconstruction of destroyed schools, train some 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers, prepare A tenth pack of sanctions against Russia by February 24, to open an international center for the continuation of crimes in Ukraine in The Hague (Netherlands)…
These measures “send a clear message at a crucial moment: we will continue to support Ukraine as long as it takes and as long as it will be necessary,” said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, which was also on the trip. “We have written our common future today,” said Ursula von der Leyen, before recalling that the EU had already undertaken to spend 50 billion euros in aid (humanitarian, economic or military) at the ‘Ukraine.
You have 58.61% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.