On Thursday, 28 August, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen indicated that she would be visiting Latvia, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and, finally, Romania from Friday, 29 August, to Monday, 1 September. The trip, which had already been planned for several weeks, was announced a few hours after the Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv that damaged the European Union delegation’s office (see other news).
When meeting with the leaders of the seven countries that have land or sea borders with Russia or Belarus, Ursula von der Leyen intends to “express the EU’s full solidarity with them and share the progress we are making in building a strong European defence industry, especially through our joint defence instrument SAFE.”
In Latvia, the president of the European Commission will visit a drone production plant that received European support through the recovery plan. In Bulgaria, she will visit a state-owned defence factory as well as the country’s largest arms production site.
In Poland, Mrs von der Leyen will visit the border with Belarus to observe surveillance operations, and in Bulgaria, she will travel to the Black Sea, where she will discuss hybrid threats with officials. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)