Ursula von der Leyen was the president of European Commission. Josep Borrrell, the highest representative of community diplomacy is also there. They moved at night UkraineA highly symbolic trip that illustrates better than any speech, the EU’s support of the country being besieged with Russian bombs was made. It marks the first official visit of high-ranking community members since the Bucha massacre, which was committed against civilians. Security reasons have made few details public about the visit, but the two officials from the community will meet today with Volodimir Zilenski, the country’s president.
Until now the only representative from the community who had traveled to Ukraine following the Russian invasion was Roberta Metsola (president of the European Parliament), who went to Kiev last week. This powerful gesture by Maltese politics was taken as a given in the community corridors. Prior to Metsola’s visit the only European leaders to have visited Ukraine since the outbreak of war were the Prime Ministers from Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, Czech Republic and Petr Fiala. Janez Jansa was also present, as well as Jaroslaw Kaczynski (Polish Deputy Prime Minister), who arrived by train.
The leaders of Eastern countries were blessed by the community leaders. However, they were surprised to see the EU represented as a whole. This corresponds with the European positions
Von der Leyen’s and Borrell’s high-stakes visit to Ukraine comes at an especially sensitive time for Twenty-seven support for Ukraine. Although the initial weeks following the offensive were marked by unity and determination in the application of sanctions, this cracking of ranks is due to the reluctance to punish Russia where it hurts most: energy imports. These are the main source funding for the Kremlin’s bloody war machine. Until now,The Twenty-Seven will only embargo coal that is from RussiaHowever, they are hesitant about extending this measure to oil and, most importantly, to gas because of the strong dependence many countries have on this raw materials.
The man who was in recent years the most prominent ally of Vladimir Putin in Europe has been re-elected after last Sunday’s victory. The Hungarian president has not only rejected the embargo against Russian hydrocarbons, but has also violated the European consensus by accepting rubles to purchase Russian oil. It is an act that goes against what the rest of the foreign ministry have enacted. “The contracts are very clear. They state that payments are in dollars or euros. These contracts are being reviewed carefully at the moment. It seems that we are going to respect them and we will pay in euros and not in rubles”,Before traveling to Kyiv, Ursula von der Leyen (president of the European Commission) assured her.
Orban, who traveled to Moscow from Ukraine in February, was already causing blisters among the Twenty Seven, just when the US intelligence agencies were warning of war. Vladimir Putin claimed that Hungary paid five times more for Russian gas than any other European partner, due to its longer-term contracts. Russia had been pumping less into EU territory in the months preceding the invasion. This tactic was used to pressure European countries to sign long-term agreements that would tie them to the Kremlin. Everything after the war indicates that Moscow also took advantage of the lower gas resources (10 points lower than previous years) in order to increase European dependence on Russian hydrocarbons, and prevent the implementation of sanctions. .