2023-06-29 20:17:19
The failed “armed insurrection”. starred by mercenary group Wagner and its entrance to Belarus has caught European leaders off guard, who are watching with concern and fear the possible regrouping of troops in this country, bordering Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. “We keep a very careful eye on everything that happens in Belarus with (Ievgueni) Prigojin and an unknown number of highly trained and skilled fighters who will presumably join him. It poses a potential threat. It is probably not a frontal military threat, but an attempt to infiltrate Europe for unknown purposes” but “it means we have to increase our border surveillance and make sure we can control it”, he explained this Thursday the Prime Minister of Latvia, Krisjanis Karinsone of the main supports of Ukraine in the EU, during the first day of the European Council.
Restlessness and concern over what happened over the weekend and the situation in Ukraine have once again dominated part of the first day of the European Council which is being held this Thursday and Friday in Brussels, the last being held with Sweden as acting president of the EU, who will hand over the certificate to Spain this Saturday, July 1. “I can only say that we must observe very carefully what is happening in Russia, in Moscow and in Belarus with Wagner”, acknowledged the Finnish Prime Minister, Petteri Orpo, in its premiere at a summit. Like other European leaders he sees what happened to Wagner’s paramilitaries as one internal Russian problem but fears the ramifications and consequences it could have in the EU, particularly if it moves to a ‘puppet country’ like Belarus, whose leaders have again called on it to “stop allowing the Russian Army to use its territory , even for the deployment oftactical nuclear weapons», points out the agreed conclusions document.
According to diplomatic sources, there have been several European leaders who have pointed out during the meeting at the nuclear narrative of the Kremlin and Minsk and the presence of Wagner in Belarus as “an explosive cocktail» although the conclusion is that it must be «keep a cool head». Among the most worried, the Baltic countries. “If Wagner deploys his serial killers in Belarus, all neighboring countries face an even greater danger of instability,” the Lithuanian president warned. Gitan Nausedawho traveled to Kyiv this Wednesday together with the Polish president, Andrzej Duda.
Putin, weakness but a danger
“It is clear that Putin emerges weakened from this crisis, but a weaker Putin is a greater danger. So we have to be very aware of the consequences. Everything remains unclear. What happened? Who was behind this attempted uprising or military rebellion? Some generals have been arrested, so I guess Putin will be in a mood of internal cleaning and more assertive”, asked the head of European diplomacy, Joseph Borrellwhich has agreed with the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenbergthat what happened shows that “there are cracks and divisions within the Russian system” even though it is “too soon to draw definitive conclusions”, the Norwegian explained shortly before the lunch he had with the European leaders.
Europe is not part of what happened in Russia and faces the incident as an observer. “We can only observe, our goal is not a change of Government, a change of regime”, warned the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz. The uncertainty, however, remains great. “It is still not clear how many of Wagner’s forces will end up in Belarus or elsewhere”, added the allied general secretary, for whom the important thing now, as for the Twenty-seven, is to continue closing ranks and “supporting Ukraine” as long as necessary, with funding or the shipment of weapons.
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It is the answer that they defended again during a meeting in which they heard again, by video conference and without mobile phones in the room, the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenskiwhom he will visit this Saturday Pedro Sanchez, on his first official trip as rotating president of the EU. In their conclusions of this debate, the Twenty-seven have opened the door to offer thesecurity guarantees» long-term in Kyiv. “The European Union and its Member States are ready to contribute, together with their partners, to future security commitments in Ukraine, which will help it defend itself in the long term, deter acts of aggression and resist attempts at destabilization “, they point out the conclusions, without detailing what they will consist of but committing to “rapidly consider the modalities” that will in any case respect “the security and defense policies of some member states”. It is a message intended to reassure neutral countries such as Malta, Austria and Ireland.
The Twenty-Seven have also committed to intensify diplomatic contacts with third countries to achieve the “broadest possible international support” for the peace plan proposed by Zelenski and to work towards holding a global summit to discuss the proposal. In addition, and to support the reconstruction of the country, they instruct the European Commission to present a proposal on the possible use of the frozen assets in the Central Bank of Russia. Brussels has already confirmed that it intends to present a document before the summer break.
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