The European Union supplied 371 school buses to six regions of Ukraine

This Saturday, the European Union (EU) delivered a total of 371 school buses to communities across Ukraine with the aim of “bringing back innocence and childhood” to Ukrainian children, the President of the Commission said.

“This brutal war has deprived thousands of innocent children of their innocence and childhood. But it will not deprive them of the bright and happy future they deserve. So let’s help Ukrainian children go to school safely,” Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference accompanied by First Lady of Ukraine Elena Zelenskaya following a one-day visit to Kiev.

The buses are intended for schools in the Kyiv, Sumy, Nikolaev, Dnepropetrovsk, Lviv and Chernigov regions.

Of the total, 271 buses were sent to Ukraine as part of a joint effort by European public and private organizations under the European Civil Protection Mechanism.

The remaining hundred were purchased by the Commission.

“This is a journey to the future of our children, them and the whole country, in the midst of this war. This is what the buses represent, which is why they are so important to us,” says Elena Zelenskaya.

Von der Leyen’s sixth visit to the Ukrainian capital was accompanied by a group of journalists, including from the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA), which serves as a “pool” for the European Newsroom, of which Lusa is part.

Early this morning, von der Leyen met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and congratulated him on “excellent progress” in implementing Brussels’ recommendations so that the candidate country could convince the European Council that it was time to move towards formal negotiations, just over a year after receiving joint candidate status from Moldova.

The Chairman of the Commission also met with the Prime Minister of Ukraine and addressed the parliament of a country that has been trying to repel an invasion from Moscow for more than a year and a half.