Today at 17h CET, President von der Leyen will host a European ceremony in honour of Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995, who passed away on December 27.
"Beyond the legacy of Jacques Delors, I believe we must also keep the flame alive. The flame of will, ambition and pragmatism. After all, Europe's path is reinvented every day. Jacques Delors taught us how important it was to adapt to new needs. To act with ambition and realism to meet new challenges. And to hold firmly onto the European ideal," said President von der Leyen.
You will be able read the President's opening speech here, in French, English and German.
You can watch the entire ceremony on Europe by Satellite. In addition to Jacques Delors' family and former colleagues, the ceremony will be attended by a number of European leaders who will come to pay tribute to the former president. Expected attendees include: Klaus Werner Iohannis, President of Romania, Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania, Nikos Christodoulides, President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal, Andrej Plenković, Prime Minister of Croatia, Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece, Robert Abela, Prime Minister of Malta, Alexander de Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium, Olaf Scholz, Federal Chancellor of Germany, Leo Varadkar, Prime Minister (Taoiseach) of Ireland, Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia, Nikolai Denkov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Petteri Orpo, Prime Minister of Finland, Luc Frieden, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland and former President of the European Council.
The ceremony will also include testimonials in memory of Jacques Delors and musical interludes.
