The British Minister of Defence will visit Poland on Thursday, hoping to learn how the British army can help strengthen the country’s borders with Poland. Belarus At the time when thousands of immigrants tried to enter the European Union.
The task comes in two days Ben Wallace Visited Ukraine, where the two countries completed an arms deal and emphasized the willingness of Britain to reach a defense agreement with countries near the Russian border after Brexit.
Last week, Warsaw invited a research team of about 10 British soldiers who are racing to complete an assessment before the summit between Wallace and his Polish colleague Mariusz Błaszczak.
It is expected that Poland will request a team of British engineers to help strengthen the border fence, which has already Repeatedly vandalized, Mainly from the Middle East, eager to start a new life in the West.
Poland, which is involved in a dispute with the EU constitution, refused to allow the EU border agencies to help, declared a state of emergency at the border, and denied access to the media and humanitarian agencies.
Aid agencies criticized Britain’s response to the crisis. Vickie Hawkins, executive director of the rescue charity MSF UK, said that their team has seen vulnerable people with hypothermia trapped in the cold.
“Instead of focusing on potentially harmful physical deterrents, the British government should respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of these women, men and children,” the aid agency director added.
But Britain does not repent and believes that it must support what Poland calls the crisis created by it. Russia And Belarus, to create problems on its eastern border and gain a bargaining chip in Minsk when it seeks to get rid of EU sanctions imposed after Alexander Lukashenko’s controversial re-election last year.
Wallace visit Ukraine According to military analysts, the Russian army has assembled about 100,000 soldiers near the land border between the two countries, which has aroused increasing vigilance.
Satellite images released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a US think tank, show that the number of military installations used to store and station troops outside the Russian town of Yernia in northern Ukraine and eastern Belarus has increased by 17%.
This is the second time this year that a similar rally has occurred. Although few people believe that it may lead to another invasion, as happened when Crimea was occupied in 2014, this crisis is seen as a crisis of determination to the West. test.
Marina Vorotnyuk, a researcher at the Luxi Think Tank, said: “We cannot reduce our worries this time just because nothing happened last time. The question now is whether Russia wants to maintain such a high level of upgrades.”
During the visit, the British Minister of Defence and Minister of Defence Oleksi Yurijovic Reznikov issued a joint statement in which the UK pledged to support Ukraine’s “national sovereignty and territorial integrity” over Moscow.
“Our government does not want to be an adversary, nor does it want to seek to strategically encircle or undermine the Russian Federation in any way. We are concerned about Russia’s military build-up and activities near the Ukrainian border,” the two added.
But more importantly, the United Kingdom confirmed that it will provide 1.7 billion pounds of loans so that Kiev can enhance its naval capabilities in the Black Sea. Russia has a dominant position in the Black Sea and regularly attempts to impose economic blockades on its neighbors.
Ukraine will use the loan facility to purchase two minesweepers from the British supplier Babcock to jointly build a frigate and eight guided missile ships. The British company will also provide continuous technical support, and the deal has been patiently negotiated for months.
Although the United States is still the largest military supplier, Kiev sees London as an important source of support. Vorotnyuk said that by focusing on naval cooperation, the UK has “found a niche market” where it can become a major supplier and generate revenue domestically.
At the same time, the UK has indicated to its partners that it is willing to carry out high-profile support demonstrations, despite its limited long-term military utility.
Last summer, after an earlier round of discussions on the naval agreement in Odessa, the Royal Navy’s HMS Defender briefly sailed through the territorial waters of Crimea, where it was obscured by the Russian Navy.
