The President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, and the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, arrived this Friday (04.08.2022) in kyiv on a lightning visit to meet first-hand the situation of the war on the ground. “We saw the cruel face of Putin’s army, we saw the cruelty and coldness with which they occupied the city,” he said.
Von der Leyen visited Bucha, on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, where he was able to observe first-hand, among other things, twenty bodies exhumed from a mass grave and honored the victims by lighting candles in a church for the victims of the massacre. “Here in Bucha we saw our humanity shattered, the whole world cries with the people of Bucha,” he lamented.
The German politician is scheduled, together with Borrell, to meet with the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski; with the prime minister, Denys Shmyhal; in addition to holding separate meetings with other high-ranking government officials; to those who will convey a “message of solidarity” from the EU with the country after the Russian invasion. Von der Leyen previously shared on social media that he would personally offer Zelensky’s condolences. “The missile attack this morning on a train station used for the evacuation of civilians in Ukraine is despicable,” the Commission president said at the time.
Referring to Ukraine’s desire to join the EU, von der Leyen said he would work on the accession process with Prime Minister Shmyhal and President Zelenskyy during his visit. “We will do everything to help Ukraine take the necessary measures.”
lgc (dpa / afp / efe)