The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, began his visit to Brussels on Thursday at the European Parliament where he is speaking at an extraordinary plenary session, before participating in person in the summit of heads of state and government of the European Union.
Zelenski’s first stop in Brussels is the European Parliament, where he was welcomed by the President, Roberta Metsola, on the red carpet of the institution, followed by the Ukrainian and European Union anthems. At this time he will address the MEPs in a special session convened for his presence in the EU capital.
Then, the Ukrainian president will attend the European Council where the leaders of the EU-27 are meeting on Thursday to discuss industrial policy and migration issues, although the appointment has been completely overshadowed by the visit of Zelenski, whose agenda has been kept secret until the last minute for security reasons.
After the welcome and a message to the European Council as a whole, it will be time for bilateral meetings with the EU-27. Meetings organized with groups of countries will allow all European leaders to meet face-to-face with Zelenski.
In the case of Spain, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will be in the group together with Sweden, the current six-month presidency of the Council, Italy, Poland, Romania and the Netherlands.
This morning, the Ukrainian leader traveled to Brussels together with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, from Paris where together with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, a three-way meeting took place in which the European leaders reiterated their support to Ukraine in the face of the Russian aggression «as long as necessary».
Upon his arrival in Brussels in the French presidential plane, he was received by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo.
On the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion, the EU wants to reinforce its message of support for Kiev, which was already symbolically reflected last week, when the Brussels top brass, including Von der Leyen and Michel, traveled to the war-torn country.
In this Thursday’s meeting, the leaders of the EU-27 will send an image of support to Ukraine, and will reinforce the financial, political and military support, but also with a new package of sanctions on which they are already working -the tenth- and looking for legal formulas to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine with the resources confiscated from Russia or ensuring that those responsible will be held accountable before international justice.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
