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Von der Leyen visits Kyiv for Europe Day

9 May 2023

The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen is visiting Kyiv on Tuesday (9 May) to mark Europe Day.

Announcing her arrival in Kyiv, von der Leyen tweeted early on Tuesday that it was "good to be back in Kyiv. Where the values we hold dear are defended everyday."

"So it is such a fitting place to celebrate the day of Europe," she added, also mentioning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's signing of a decree yesterday (8 May) to also celebrate Europe Day on 9 May in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Zelensky proposed that the annual Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in the Second World War would be moved to 8 May, which is when many other European countries celebrate Victory in Europe Day.

Russia, and a number of other post-Soviet countries, continue to celebrate Victory Day on 9 May.

What is Europe Day?

Europe Day is marked by European Union member states on the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, made in 1950 by the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in which he set out his vision for a new form of political cooperation in Europe that would make war between Europe's nations unthinkable.

Schuman's proposal to create a European Coal and Steel Community, whose members would pool coal and steel production, is considered as the beginning of what is now the European Union.

Ukraine applied for EU candidate status in the first few days of Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, and in June that year was duly granted candidate status.

On 11 February, President Zelensky said that he wants to see Ukraine become an EU member state in the next two years.

source: commonspace.eu with agencies
photo: Twitter

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