URSULA VON DER Leyen is set to address the Dáil and the Seanad next month on a visit to Dublin.

The European Commission President will meet with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and President Michael D Higgins during a trip to Ireland on 1 December, according to a Commission spokesperson.

She will deliver an address to the Houses of the Oireachtas, becoming the 23rd leader to address a joint sitting of the two houses.

Yesterday, von der Leyen, who has held her role as Commission President since 2019, announced that the EU is working on another round of sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine.

“We will not rest until Ukraine has prevailed over Putin and his unlawful and barbaric war,” she said. 

Earlier this year, a virtual address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy filled the chamber in Leinster House for a joint sitting to hear the Ukrainian leader.

Speaking to TDs, senators and guests, Zelenskyy said that Russia should no longer be accepted as a civilised nation due to its bombing of hospitals, churches and shelters in Ukraine.

“It should be held responsible for everything they have done on Ukrainian soil,” he said.

“They have come to Ukraine as a colonising army, their state propagandists and their politicians are not even concealing what they want.

“In the 21st century, they’re looking at their country as a colonial empire who allegedly has the right to subdue a neighboring people and destroy the foundations of their independent life, their identity.”