(Brussels) The plane carrying Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Belgium was due to land on Wednesday morning at the Melsbroek military air base in Brussels.
Posted at 6:22
The Prime Minister of Canada will deliver remarks later in the day in the European Parliament after holding a bilateral meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
This is the second trip that the head of the Canadian government is making to Europe this month.
His speech to the European Parliament will be his second after that of 2017 which had shortly followed the decision of the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union (EU) and the election in the United States of President Donald Trump.
This Wednesday, he should insist on the importance for countries on both sides of the Atlantic to work together to defend democracy in the face of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military.
Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly says Europe will hear from the Prime Minister that the Ukraine issue is the worst security threat to Europe since World War II. Two weeks ago, during his participation in a conference in Germany, Justin Trudeau called for a strengthening of democracy in the face of rising authoritarianism.
Following his address to the European Parliament, Prime Minister Trudeau will hold a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin. He will then take part in a working dinner with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
On Thursday, Trudeau will meet with other NATO leaders to coordinate the military alliance’s response to the Russian attack in Ukraine. He will also have talks with leaders of the other G7 countries before returning to Canada on Friday.
Before leaving Ottawa on Tuesday, Prime Minister Trudeau spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about additional aid coming to Ukraine. The Prime Minister’s entourage indicated after the talks that the two leaders asked Russia to stop its attacks against civilians, to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and to launch diplomatic initiatives with this country.