Journey through the war zone: Von der Leyen on the way to Kyiv

Created: 04/08/2022Updated: 04/08/2022 04:34

A dangerous journey: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission, is on her way to Kyiv.

© Kenzo Tribouillard/Pool AFP/AP/dpa

Ursula von der Leyen has embarked on a dangerous journey: the EU Commission President is taking the train through the Ukrainian war zone to Kyiv.

Przemysl – EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took the train from south-eastern Poland to Kyiv on Friday night.

In the Ukrainian capital, she wants to meet, among others, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj on Friday.

Former Federal Defense Minister von der Leyen is accompanied by a delegation that also includes EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger and several EU parliamentarians.

Von der Leyen set out from the small town of Przemysl, just 13 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

Thousands of refugees still arrive there every day in the European Union, at peak times it was sometimes more than 100,000 a day.

The airspace over Ukraine is closed because of the war.

First visit by a top politician to Bucha

Von der Leyen is the first top Western politician to visit Ukraine since the war atrocities in the Kiev suburb of Bucha became known.

The heads of government of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic were there in mid-March to show solidarity.

Last week, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, visited Kyiv.

In response to the massacre of civilians in Bucha, von der Leyen proposed a fifth sanctions package against Russia on Tuesday, which was approved by the 27 member states on Thursday evening shortly before their departure.

Among other things, it contains an import ban on coal from Russia, but also further restrictions on trade with Russia and an extensive entry ban for Russian ships in EU ports.

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Poland prevented the negotiations from being concluded earlier.

According to diplomats, the country initially did not want to accept that the transition period for the import ban on Russian coal should be four months at the request of countries like Germany - and not three months as originally planned by the commission.

Shortly before leaving, Borrell had proposed to the member states that the EU funds for armaments aid for Ukraine be increased by 500 million euros to 1.5 billion.

Ukraine is now demanding heavy weapons in particular to ward off the Russian attack.

dpa