Von der Leyen to celebrate "Europe Day" in Kyiv on Tuesday
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit Kyiv on Tuesday to mark Europe Day, according to her spokeswoman.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday that his country would begin marking Europe Day on May 9, the day that Ukraine traditionally commemorates victory over Nazi Germany.
But this date has become increasingly associated with a parade to mark the same anniversary in Moscow, used also by the Kremlin to flaunt its military prowess.
Seeking to break with the Russian tradition, Zelensky on Monday submitted a bill to the country's parliament to move Victory Day celebrations a day earlier to May 8.
What is “Europe Day”: This annual event celebrates peace and unity in Europe. May 9 marks the anniversary of the historic “Schuman Declaration, which set out the idea for greater political cooperation in Europe, as it emerged from World War II.
The Declaration was presented by French foreign minister Robert Schuman in 1950, as the countries of Europe were still recovering from the devastation of the conflict. It proposed the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community – the first of a series of supranational European institutions that would eventually become the “European Union” of today.
The new political cooperation aimed to make war between European nations “not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.”
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