Foreign
EUROPEAN Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Kiev for her third visit to the Ukrainian capital since Russia’s invasion.
“So much has changed. Ukraine is now a European Union candidate,’’ von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.
“I’ll discuss with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal how to continue getting our economies and people closer while Ukraine progresses towards accession.’’
Von der Leyen announced the visit to Kiev on Tuesday in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg in the presence of Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska.
Ukraine applied for EU membership days after Russia’s invasion began, and was granted candidate status in less than four months.
Von der Leyen is to discuss Ukraine’s integration into the EU’s single market with Zelensky.
The market guarantees free movement of goods, capital, services and people.
On Tuesday, von der Leyen also proposed including Ukraine in EU’s free-roaming zone for mobile device users.
This allows calls, text messages and mobile internet use abroad at no extra cost. (dpa/NAN)
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Tags: Denys Shmyhal Olena Zelenska Ursula von der Leyen Volodymyr Zelensky
