Jill Biden thanks U.S. troops in Romania amid Ukraine war
MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIR
BASE, ROMANIA » Delivering good cheer — and 5 gallons of ketchup — Jill Biden thanked U.S. troops deployed to Romania as a check against Russian aggression for their service, as she began a four-day trip to Europe to see the refugee crisis caused by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
After flying overnight from Washington, the first lady arrived in Romania, near the Black Sea, in time to help serve Friday dinner to U.S. service members.
About 1,600 of the several thousand U.S. troops President Joe Biden deployed to eastern Europe in the lead-up to the Russia-ukraine war were sent to the base, about 60 miles from Romania’s border with Ukraine.
Jill Biden served mac and cheese and baked potatoes — and encouraged troops not to skip out on the greens — before greeting small groups of service members at tables in the base dining facility. She also delivered bottles of ketchup, responding to a shortage of the condiment on the base, eliciting cheers from the troops.
“I know it’s hard on your families,” she told one servicemember, referencing her own experience when her son Beau Biden deployed to Iraq.
Biden is using four days in Europe to highlight issues she promotes at home, including support for U.S. service members, education and the welfare of children.
The centerpiece of the first lady’s trip comes Sunday — Mother’s Day — when the mother of three meets with displaced Ukrainians who sought refuge across the border in Slovakia.
On Saturday in Bucharest, Biden was planning to be briefed on humanitarian efforts, meet with Romanian first lady Carmen Iohannis and tour a school where Ukrainian refugee students are enrolled.