Polish Deputy Prime Minister Yaroslav Kaczynski, Prime Ministers Piotr Fiala (Czech Republic), Janez Jansa (Slovenia), Mateusz Morawiecki (Polish) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left to right) in Kyiv on March 15, 2022. HANDOUT / AFP
On Tuesday, March 15, the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, as well as Jarosław Kaczynski, chairman of PiS, Poland’s ruling party, traveled by train to Kyiv to reaffirm their unwavering support for the Ukrainian prime minister and president.
“It is here, in war-torn Kyiv, that history is being made. Here freedom meets the world of tyranny. Our future is at stake here. The European Union supports Ukraine, which can count on the help of its friends,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Twitter shortly after 6:00 pm upon his arrival in Kyiv. In the photographs illustrating the tweet, we see a former banker in a van from another time in the company of his Slovenian colleagues Janez Janša and the Czech Piotr Fiala and Jaroslav Kaczynski, deputy prime minister in charge of security issues and a strong man of Poland.
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During this Kiev meeting, led by the Polish government, Mateusz Morawiecki confirmed that the European Union (EU) should invite Ukraine to join it and that it would be about providing it with “defensive weapons.” The dean of the evening, Jarosław Kaczynski, urged him to send “a peacekeeping mission from NATO or perhaps from a larger international alliance to protect himself.”
“A bright sign of solidarity”
The train convoy, which departed the Polish city of Przemysl around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, was kept under wraps. According to a press release from the Office of the Prime Minister of Poland on the same morning, it was indicated that the parties concerned were traveling to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as Prime Minister Denys Chmyhal. as representatives of the European Council”. The same press release added that “the visit was organized in consultation with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.”
In Brussels, we renounced any European Council mandate. On Tuesday at noon, the official explained that the decision concerning the trip of the three leaders had been communicated to the Chairman of the Council on Monday evening. “President Michel acknowledged the need to support Ukraine, but stressed the security risks of such a trip. The Twenty-Seven have not formally accepted either the mandate of the Council or the conclusion,” he explained. “The President of the European Commission has regular contact with President Zelensky, and it is not for us to comment on other channels. Everyone must determine the most appropriate channel for communication with the Ukrainian president,” Eric Mamer, the commission’s chief spokesman, said more diplomatically.
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