Zelenskyj landed at the airport in Tirstrup outside Aarhus on Thursday morning and later held talks with Prime Minister Frederiksen and EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa at Marselisborg Castle.
–Today, we have gathered the European family here in Aarhus. And it would not be complete without you, says Frederiksen at a brief press conference.
There, continued European support is promised, both economically and militarily.
–We must stop seeing the support for Ukraine as donations, but see it for what it is: it is a defense of Europe against Russian imperialist aggression, says Frederiksen.
Want to negotiate
The Thursday meeting takes place in connection with Denmark inaugurating its half-year as chairman of the EU Council of Ministers. During that time, Zelenskyj and Ukraine hope to finally get the concrete negotiations on EU membership started, which Hungary is blocking for the time being.
–Being part of the EU helps every country to succeed. Ukraine has done what is required. It's time to open the negotiating clusters, says the president, who also met with Denmark's King Frederik X inside the castle.
In parallel, he has also signed an agreement with an American company for the production of "hundreds of thousands" of new drones.
Europe's future
Both Denmark and the EU Commission are pushing hard for all EU countries to have economic opportunities to help Ukraine – both directly and indirectly – through the EU's new defense fund Safe and the possibility of being exempt from the normally strict budget rules in the EU.
At a separate press conference with von der Leyen, Frederiksen emphasizes the serious situation.
I see no signs that Putin wants peace. This is a war about Europe's future, says Frederiksen.
