Von der Leyen arrives in kyiv together with several EU commissioners to address the EU accession process

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, arrived this Thursday in the Ukrainian capital, kyiv, for a summit with the Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelenski, in which around fifteen European commissioners will participate, in a new show of political support for the Ukrainian government in the face of the Russian invasion and to address the progress towards its possible entry into the European Union (EU).

"It's good to be back in kyiv, my fourth time since the start of the Russian invasion," Von der Leyen said through his Twitter account, where he stressed that this time he is traveling with his "team of commissioners." "We are all together to show that the EU stands with Ukraine as firmly as ever and that we are going to strengthen our support and cooperation," he added.

Together with Von der Leyen, the Vice President of the European Commission and Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager; the economic vice-president of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis; the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell; the community vice president for Inter-institutional Relations, Maros Sefcovic; the Vice President of the European Commission in charge of Values ​​and Transparency, Vera Jourová; and the Vice President of the European Commission responsible for the European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas.

They are joined by the European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit; the Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni; the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski; the Commissioner for Justice, Didier Deynders; the Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson; the Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic; the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi; the Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius; and the Commissioner for Financial Services, Mairead McGuiness.

The European Commission has highlighted in a statement that this visit "is a robust symbol" of the organization's support for Ukraine "in the face of Russia's unprovoked and unjustified aggression", while stressing that the meetings "will be an opportunity to carry out exchanges in the many areas of cooperation between the EU and Ukraine and discuss the future reconstruction, as well as the European path of the country".

On the eve of the trip, Borrell stated that "we must be optimistic and realistic at the same time", while stressing that Ukraine's possible accession to the European bloc must follow the process based on reforms that "nobody can skip". Despite the fact that Brussels and the Twenty-seven have taken unprecedented steps to bring Ukraine closer to the EU, granting it candidate status in record time, Borrell said that its entry into the bloc will not be "a thing of tomorrow".

Thus, the meeting between the European Commission and the Ukrainian government will serve to deepen the dialogue on the accession process and review kyiv's reform agenda to integrate into the bloc. The day after, an EU-Ukraine summit will take place in the presence of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

In the announcement chapter, official confirmation is expected that the EU will increase the capacity of its training mission for Ukrainian troops to train 30,000 soldiers, double the initial goal, in addition to a budget of 25 million for demining programs. on the ground and the formal adoption of the seventh batch of 500 million from the fund that the EU uses to pay for the shipment of arms from the Twenty-seven to Ukraine.