Trudeau arrives in Europe, will address European Parliament on Russian invasion of Ukraine – National

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has kicked off a whirlwind journey to Brussels, and can deal with the European Parliament later at the moment on his second go to to the continent this month.
The prime minister’s airplane touched down at a Brussels army base this morning.
Trudeau’s speech is about to emphasize the significance of nations on either side of the Atlantic working collectively to defend democracy within the face of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
It will likely be Trudeau’s second speech to European parliamentarians, following a 2017 deal with that was meant as a shot within the arm for a continent reeling from Britain’s vote a 12 months earlier to go away the European Union amid the election of Donald Trump in the US.
Overseas Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Europe can count on to listen to an identical message in a brand new context: Canada’s solidarity with the individuals of Ukraine as Europe confronts its greatest safety menace because the Second World Struggle.
Two weeks in the past, Trudeau developed an identical theme in a speech to a world viewers on the Munich Safety Convention, the place he known as for a recommitment to democracy within the face of rising authoritarianism.
The speech was a sequel of types to the 2017 deal with the prime minister gave in Hamburg, Germany, that outlined his foreign-policy imaginative and prescient and his usually professed religion within the rules-based worldwide order.
Trudeau will be a part of different NATO leaders on Thursday to co-ordinate the army alliance’s response to Russia’s assault on Ukraine and can meet with fellow G7 leaders earlier than returning to Canada on Friday.
Trudeau toured Europe two weeks in the past, the place he held conferences in London, Berlin, Warsaw and Poland, and visited Canadian troops main a NATO multinational battlegroup in Latvia.
Trudeau will face stress to spice up Canada’s defence finances, which in keeping with NATO estimates stands at 1.39 per cent of the nation’s gross home product in 2021.
“Ukraine helps to make spending on defence extra palatable for Canadians,” stated Andrea Charron, director of the Centre for Defence and Safety Research on the College of Manitoba.
“I believe we’d like ground-based, anti-aircraft defence capabilities desperately and a substitute for the CF18s.”
Previous to leaving Ottawa on Tuesday, Trudeau spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about “additional worldwide help forward of the upcoming NATO and G7 conferences,” the Prime Minister’s Workplace stated in a press release.
“Each leaders known as on Russia to cease focusing on civilians, to withdraw its army forces from Ukraine, and to have interaction in diplomacy with Ukraine.”
In a tweet, Zelenskyy stated he particularly spoke concerning the “humanitarian disaster” unfolding within the besieged metropolis of Mariupol, and “the significance of efficient safety ensures” for Ukraine.