The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, marked, this Tuesday, in kyiv, the 73rd anniversary of the Schuman Declaration. Together with the Ukrainian president, the head of the community executive said that it was “an honor” to celebrate the date of May 9, in Kiev, which is now designated in Ukraine as “Europe Day”.
“Ukraine is at the forefront of defending everything that we Europeans stand for: our freedom, our democracy, our freedom of thought and expression. Bravely, Ukraine is fighting for the ideals of the Europe that we celebrate today, ”she said.
In response to Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for the European Union to sanction Russia with new measures, the Commission president said that Brussels has had a set of punitive measures on the table since Friday the 11th.
“The focus of this package is to evade sanctions [e] we are refining our instruments and adding more products to the prohibited list,” Von der Leyen said, giving “as an example, advanced technology products or aircraft parts destined for Russia, through third countries. [que] It will no longer end up in the hands of the Kremlin.”
The head of the community executive left a notice to anyone who collaborates with Vladimir Putin, warning that “if it turns out that the goods leave the European Union to third countries and then end up in Russia, we can propose to the Member States that they sanction the export of these goods”.
“There must be no doubt that we are working against the circumvention of sanctions,” said the president of the European Commission, warning that action against third countries will be “cautious” and subject to careful evaluation by the Member states.
Faced with the expectations of the Ukrainian government regarding the accession to the European Union, Von der Leyen says that the work still needs to continue.
“Ukraine is working tirelessly and intensively on the seven criteria, despite the difficulties of carrying out the reforms in the midst of an all-out war, but I want to express my deep respect for this extraordinary work,” he said, noting that, however, “The work must go on.”
The Commission President says that in about a month, in June, the European Commission will issue an oral opinion to the Council, and in October it will present a formal report, according to von der Leyen, “even more important”, on Ukraine’s progress in the criteria for joining the European Union.
Source: TSF
