Britain has sent a team of about 10 soldiers to Poland to help Warsaw strengthen its border with Poland. Belarus, Where immigrant groups are trapped trying to cross the border into the European Union.
The troops arrived on Thursday and are expected to stay in the country for a few days, including visiting the border at the request of the Polish government to determine if they can repair or reinforce the fence.
this Ministry of Defense Said that the task is only focused on “providing engineering support for the resolution of the current situation on the Belarusian border”, insiders said that the British army has no additional plans to monitor the border.
Sources in Whitehall say it is appropriate to consider providing help Poland Whereas “Belarus is pushing migrants to the border”. Any final decision to provide assistance must be approved by Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace.
In the growing humanitarian crisis, hundreds of people were allowed to take off from Iraq, Turkey, and other parts of the Middle East, and were trapped in camps on the border between Belarus and Poland at temperatures close to freezing.
Poland A state of emergency has been established in the border area, enforced by 20,000 border police, and they are denied entry. However, although Warsaw asked for help from the United Kingdom, it rejected the help of the EU Frontex border management agency.
It is not clear why Poland believes it needs British engineering assistance, but because both countries have disputes with the European Union, the two countries have close relations.
At the end of October, Boris Johnson had a conversation with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and expressed his concerns about the impact of the European Court of Justice on the Northern Ireland Agreement.
After its Constitutional Court ruled that Polish law superseded EU law when there was a conflict between the two, Poland fell into a separate dispute with the EU over the primacy of the European Court of Justice.
Britain originally planned to jointly announce the mission with Warsaw next week, but news about the deployment leaked.Subsequently, Polish Minister of Defense Mariusz Błaszczak confirmed the news on Twitter, saying that the purpose is to “enhance cooperation [border] Fence”.
The Ministry of Defense said: “Britain and Poland have a long history of friendship. Then Allies. After reaching an agreement with the Polish government, a team of members of the British armed forces has been deployed to explore how we can provide engineering support to resolve the current situation on the Belarusian border. “
Human rights groups criticized this move, believing that Britain should concentrate on alleviating the humanitarian crisis. Steve Valdez-Symonds, Director of British Refugee and Immigrant Rights at Amnesty International, said: “Sending British soldiers to build more border fences, rather than addressing the needs of people who died at these borders, shows the importance of human life and people. Shocking disregard of the right. Seek asylum.”
Poland accuses Russia By encouraging Belarus to send people to the border to eliminate the people behind the immigration crisis. This week, Moravitsky stated that Belarus had been sanctioned by the European Union following the re-election dispute of its leader Alexander Lukashenko and that its actions “have masterminds in Moscow”.
There are other tensions in the east. The United States shares intelligence with its European allies on Russia’s military buildup along the Ukrainian border. Despite the military deployment, the United States believes that Vladimir Putin has not yet made a decision to invade. However, according to sources familiar with the situation, this assessment-Putin mainly used reinforcements to pressure the Kiev government-has not been unanimously agreed, and some US agencies are more worried than others about the imminent Russian invasion. discuss.
A European official said: “Some parts of the government are not too worried and think the situation is more similar. Moscow has destabilized Ukraine by mobilizing troops, while others are very worried and think it is different from before.”
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky Months of warning As many as 100,000 Russian troops are stationed in the border area. Moscow withdrew some troops after the April exercise, but sent more soldiers back after the summer to conduct more war exercises in September.
This time it left extra power. This month, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense estimated that there are 90,000 Russian troops. Commercial satellite images show that Russian tanks and artillery units have approached the border in the past month.
This week, when US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Newland met with Tim Barlow, the political director of the British Foreign Office, in Washington, this issue was placed on the agenda.
CIA Director William Burns, Fly to Moscow, Last week warned Russian security officials not to escalate further. Officials said that since that visit, Moscow’s level of cooperation has increased slightly.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba visited Washington this week to brief the Biden administration and signed a new bilateral strategic partnership charter with US Secretary of State Tony Brinken on Wednesday.
Brinken said that the charter “confirms the firm commitment of the United States to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” He said: “We are concerned about reports of unusual Russian military activities near Ukraine. We continue to pay close attention to the region, and we will continue to consult closely with our allies and partners on this issue.”
Kuleba told ABC News: “We are very worried, but listen-when you have been next to Russia for seven years in an armed conflict, you will learn to worry. You will get used to it.”
in a Summit between Zelensky and Joe Biden In September, the United States pledged to strengthen its network and intelligence support to Kiev.
Russia secretly sent troops and military equipment across the border to support Russian separatists and annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any concerns about a second invasion. “Such headlines will only increase tensions meaninglessly and unfoundedly. Russia will not pose a threat to anyone,” Peskov said. “We have repeatedly stated that the actions of our armed forces on our territory should not cause concern.”
The Russian military accused the United States of conducting provocative exercises in the Black Sea, pointing out that NATO reconnaissance aircraft overflew and US warships patrolled. The military said in a statement: “We believe that the aggressive military activities of the United States in the Black Sea region pose a threat to regional security and strategic stability.”
