EC chief to vissit Ukraine

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday said he will visit Kiev next week on his first bilateral trip since taking office in November, in a show of support for Ukraine’s embattled government.
Juncker, who will be accompanied by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, will jointly lead a cabinet meeting with President Petro Poroshenko during the visit on Monday.
“I am going next Monday to Kiev where the president of the Ukrainian republic is doing me the honour of being co-chair of the cabinet,” Juncker told lawmakers in the European Parliament.
He gave no other details about the visit, which comes amid strong support by the European Union for Ukraine’s pro-Western government as it battles pro-Russian separatists in the east and economic chaos.
Former Luxembourg prime minister Juncker had announced in November that his first bilateral trip as head of the Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation EU, would be to Kiev.
Juncker’s ceremonial stint at the head of the Ukrainian cabinet comes after two top Ukrainian officials were arrested on corruption charges and led away in handcuffs from a televised cabinet meeting.