BRUSSELS, April 8 - The European Union, in the present circumstances, sees as its major tasks in helping Ukraine and showing the Russian leadership that their actions are unacceptable, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said in an interview with the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper published on Monday.

At the same time, he described the current crisis in Ukraine as "the most serious challenge to Europe's security since the fall of the Iron Curtain."