By Andrew Rettman

 

BRUSSELS, 18 Sept. - (ANA) - Russian president Vladimir Putin and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be laughing at the EU after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s annual State of the Union speech in the European Parliament on Wednesday (16 September).

 

Her answer to spiralling Russian aggression was … one new strategy document and two new sets of meetings.

 

Her answer to Israel’s killing spree in Gaza and the West Bank was … to call it “unacceptable”.

 

Meanwhile, threats to Europe posed by US president Donald Trump were also mentioned, but without naming him once.

 

Von der Leyen listed Russia’s latest sabotage attacks against EU states and invited a Ukrainian girl, Sasha Paskal, an amputee, to Strasbourg to listen to her.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/18 September 2026 - -