European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that Europe will never accept Russia as a threat to its security, during a speech to Canada’s parliament as she stepped up support for Ukraine.

“We will never accept a military force with imperial fancies sending its tanks across international borders,” Ms. von der Leyen blasted during her speech in Ottawa.

The 27 “will never accept this threat against European security and against the very foundations of our international community,” he insisted.

The president of the Commission demanded Ukraine’s “unwavering military and economic support” and Russia to “pay for the crime” of the “attack” it launched, after her proposal in November to establish a special international court.

On the eve of International Women’s Day, Ms von der Leyen praised Ukrainian women serving in the armed forces, saying that despite being banned from combat pre-war, they “didn’t care and started joining the army anyway”.

“This is not a war against Ukraine only. It’s also a war against human rights, it’s a war against women’s rights,” the German argued, cheered by members of the Canadian parliament, referring to accusations made by the UN that “Russia uses rape and sexual violence as part of its military strategy in Ukraine.”

But the Ukrainian women are “fighting back”, added the president of the European Commission.

Earlier, during a visit to a Canadian military base, Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to send generators to Ukraine, which has been suffering widespread power outages due to repeated Russian attacks on its power generation and distribution grid.

Mr. Trudeau also announced the extension to October of the soon-to-end Canadian military engineer training mission in Poland, as well as the deployment of medical corps trainers.

After her visit to Canada, Ursula von der Leyen is expected in the USA, where she will be welcomed by US President Joe Biden the day after tomorrow, Friday.