A News Agency

Von der Leyen will visit Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland, which border Russia or Belarus, as well as Bulgaria and Romania.

This quick tour of seven countries, lasting from Friday to Monday, coincides with a period when U.S. President Donald Trump is stepping up efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podestà also said on Thursday: "The attacks on EU delegation buildings are absolutely unacceptable. Our support for Ukraine will not be shaken in any way." She added that no diplomatic staff were injured and that they will remain in Ukraine despite the attack.

The ongoing war has created a need to strengthen European armies, and NATO's European members have pledged to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.

However, it remains unclear how EU countries, many of which are struggling with high budget deficits, will reach these targets. While the EU has made budget rules more flexible to allow states to borrow more easily from financial markets to boost military spending, the total sums still fall short of Trump's astronomical demands.

Von der Leyen's tour will begin on Friday in Latvia, where she will meet Prime Minister Evika Siliņa. She will then travel to Helsinki to meet Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and President Alexander Stubb.

On Saturday, the EU executive will visit Estonia to meet Prime Minister Kristen Michal, and then on Sunday travel to Poland to meet Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Later the same day, von der Leyen will go to Bulgaria to meet Prime Minister Rossen Jeliazkov. On Monday, she will travel to Romania to meet President Nicușor Dan and then to Lithuania to meet President Gitanas Nausėda.