US Vice President Kamala Harris is set to go on another overseas engagement this week. Harris will be traveling to Poland and Romania in the coming days in the midst of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
Harris will visit Poland and Romania this week from Wednesday, March 9 to March 11, according to White House officials. In Harris’s visits, she will stop by Warsaw and Bucharest. Harris will also be meeting the leaders of both countries as Washington continues to show its support for Ukraine.
In her meetings with both leaders, the coordinated response to Russia’s aggression would be on the agenda, as well as how the US can support Ukraine’s neighboring countries as they prepare to accept Ukrainian refugees. They are also expected to reaffirm support for Ukraine along with their determination to continue imposing sanctions on Russia.
“Her visit will demonstrate the strength and unity of the NATO alliance and US support for NATO’s eastern flank allies in the face of Russian aggression. It will also highlight our collective efforts to support the people of Ukraine,” said the White House in an announcement last week.
This follows Harris’s recent trip to Germany for the Munich Security Conference, where she met with US allies and partners, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Harris also spoke with eastern European leaders on the phone Tuesday last week, including Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.
Last week, the US and other Western officials warned that Russia’s tactics is shifting towards a “slow annihilation” of Ukraine’s military, explaining that Russia could zero in on bombing cities and civilian targets.
Meanwhile, Harris traveled to Selma, Alabama over the weekend to commemorate the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, where state troopers clashed with Black activists who were calling for voting rights in 1965, a landmark event in the Civil Rights Movement. Harris went to the Edmund Pettus Bridge where she delivered remarks reiterating the importance of the vote and the right to vote.
“Today, we stand on this bridge at a different time,” said Harris, who is also leading the Biden administration’s efforts on voting rights.
“We again, however, find ourselves caught in between. Between injustice and justice. Between disappointment and determination…nowhere is that more clear than when it comes to the ongoing fight to secure the freedom to vote,” said the vice president.