“Ukraine Celebrates ‘Europe Day’ as Von der Leyen Visits Kiev for the Fifth Time”

09.05.2023

On May 9, European Commission President von der Leyen arrived in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. This was von der Leyen’s fifth visit to Kiev after the outbreak of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. A day earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that May 9 would be designated as “Europe Day”.

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) President of the European CommissionVon der LeyenVisit the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Tuesday. “On May 9, I came to Kiev, which is of great symbolic significance,” she said. Before she arrived, air defense sirens sounded over Kiev for two hours.

Von der Leyen said Ukraine was “part of our European family”. She warmly welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to designate May 9 as “Europe Day” every year. She said her visit to Kiev was “also critical and very revealing” in that “the EU is working hand-in-hand with Ukraine on many issues”.

This is von der Leyen’s fifth visit to the Ukrainian capital since Russia invaded Ukraine last February. Von der Leyen’s visit was also conducted under heightened security precautions as Russia stepped up its missile attacks on Ukraine.

European Commission spokesman Eric Mamers stressed that von der Leyen “expressed the EU’s full support for Ukraine” by revisiting Kiev.Last June, the European Council granted Ukraine access to the European UnionCandidate status。

“Europe Day” is reminiscent of the “Schuman Plan” announced by France on May 9, 1950. The “Schuman Plan” was seen as the first step towards the eventual formation of the European Union by Europeans. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced yesterday (8th) that in the future, May 9th will be designated as “Europe Day” and will no longer be celebrated as “Victory Day” over Nazi Germany.

Agence France-Presse pointed out that the announcement made by Zelensky marked the further separation of Ukraine from Russia. Every year on May 9, Russia holds a military parade on Red Square in Moscow to celebrate the victory over Nazi Germany.

Ukraine was again hit by a massive Russian missile attack Monday night. Russia fired around 15 missiles near Kiev, according to the Kiev military administration. There were no casualties in the missile strike, and no property was damaged by falling missile fragments.

Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Waleri Saluschnyj said 23 of 25 Russian cruise missiles fired overnight were intercepted and destroyed.Ukraine’s missile defense recently under fire from Western alliesState-of-the-art defense systemhas been greatly strengthened.

Moscow holds military parade on Red Square

Russia holds a traditional “Victory Day” military parade on May 9. Russian President Vladimir Putin once again accused the West of waging a “real war” against Russia in a speech on Red Square. “The people of the whole country are united in support of our hero,” Putin said, referring to Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine. “We are proud of the participants in the special military operation in Ukraine,” he said.

May 9th is a public holiday in Russia. Since Russian soldiers who participated in the war of aggression against Ukraine this year joined the Red Square parade, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian President’s Office, also called the Red Square parade a “murderer parade.”

(AFP, DPA)

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