Rebecca Falconer
First lady Jill Biden will travel to eastern Europe this week to meet with U.S. service members, diplomats and displaced Ukrainian parents and children, her office announced late Sunday.
The big picture: Biden will visit the refugees in NATO member countries Romania and Slovakia, which both share borders with Ukraine. She will spend Mother’s Day in Slovakia “with Ukrainian mothers and children who have been forced to flee their home country because of Putin’s war,” according to the East Wing statement.
- Nearly 5.5 million Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, according to the United Nations.
- Romania has taken in the second-largest number of refugees from Ukraine after Poland, while Slovakia has received the sixth-largest amount.
What to expect: Biden will depart the U.S. on Thursday and arrive in Romania the following day, her office said. She will first meet with U.S. service members at Mihail Kogalniceau Air Base, an American military installation near the Black Sea.
- On Saturday, community college professor Biden will meet with Romanian government members, U.S. embassy staff, aid workers and “educators who are helping teach displaced Ukrainian children and incorporate them into a stable and safe school environment,” her office said.
- She will then visit American diplomats in Bratislava, Slovakia.
On Sunday, she will travel to Kosice and Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia, for her Mother’s Day meeting “with refugees, humanitarian aid workers, and local Slovakians who are supporting families who have sought refuge in Slovakia during this crisis,” the statement added.
- She will meet with Slovakian government members on Monday before departing for the U.S.
Source: axios.com