Lukashenko’s plan: destabilize Poland and divide Europe
Lukashenko’s plan: destabilize Poland and divide Europe Arriving in Belarus is not an easy way to migrate to Europe, but to get into the middle of the conflict between Russia and Belarus with Poland and other European countries. This conflict is part of aggressive imperial policy of Russia, the effects of which can be seen in neighbouring with Poland, Belarus, and Russia, Ukraine, where a war is underway as a result of the Russian invasion. More than 100,000 people have already died there, hundreds of thousands are injured, and several million civilians have fled, seeking refuge primarily in Poland. Any attempts to illegally cross the Polish border in such conditions are madness, and at the same time are part of hostile actions against Poland and its security, regardless of the intentions of migrants. Is it imaginable that during the war with Daesh, the army and security services of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, freely let migrants from other countries try to illegally cross the border and ignore all security laws and rules? Therefore, it is difficult to expect Poland to act differently and not be guided primarily by its security. At the same time, Poland distinguishes between migrants and refugees, and this does not depend on religion or skin colour, but on the reason for crossing the border. It was the same in Iraq during the war with Daesh. The refugees were those fleeing the terrorists from Mosul, Sinjar, Tel Afar and other places occupied by Daesh hordes. They were not residents of Bangladesh, the Philippines, Georgia or Pakistan, coming to work in Irbil, Baghdad or Najaf. Nor were they citizens of various European, Asian or African countries, arriving with bad intentions, i.e. to pose a terrorist threat, spy on or join Daesh. This is what the security services and the rules of crossing borders are for to check. In a situation of threat to national security, and Poland is currently in such a situation, as Iraq was during the war with Daesh, these rules are particularly restrictive, and those trying to violate them can expect a strong reaction. Poland welcomed refugees from Ukraine, regardless of whether they were Ukrainians or foreigners studying or working there, including Iraqis, Kurds, Arabs, Indians, Muslims, etc. However, all of them had to cross the border in designated places, i.e. border crossings, presenting documents and obeying the instructions of the Polish border guards. It was no different in the case of people fleeing Daesh. How would the Iraqi services, including the Kurdish ones, react if some groups or individuals tried to bypass checkpoints, flee from the officers carrying out the checkpoint, or attack them by throwing stones, rods or branches? Especially if they were on top of that commanded by Daesh terrorists? And it is the Belarusian services hostile to Poland that organize migrant militias to attack Poland and its officers and soldiers. They want to provoke bloodshed in this way. Migrants trying to illegally cross the Polish-Belarusian border pose a threat to Poland’s security, violate the laws of Poland and the European Union, and have to account for the same reaction of Polish services that would be encountered by people trying to penetrate from Daesh areas, avoiding control. For Poland, there is no difference between Daesh and the regime of Putin and his subordinate dictator of Belarus – Lukashenko. Putin is already being prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for his crimes, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. The Russians and officials of Lukashenko’s regime are responsible for numerous atrocities, rapes, murders. Therefore, anyone who fits into the plan of Lukashenko and Putin against Poland must take into account severe consequences. Refugees in Poland and smuggling activities Russian and Belarusian propaganda tries to present a false image of Poland and its attitude towards refugees. The fact that Poland has taken in several million Ukrainian refugees, and has built a dam on the border with Belarus and is pulling back people trying to cross the border, is supposed to testify to double standards and racism. This is, of course, complete nonsense. First of all, people coming from Ukraine fled from war-torn areas, as was the case with people fleeing from areas under Daesh control to the Kurdistan Region, or areas secured by the federal forces of Iraq. People who attempt to cross the Belarusian-Polish border arrived legally in Belarus, paying for it to companies associated with the regime hostile to Poland, and then they try to break Polish law, creating a threat to Poland’s security. Whether they are aware of it or not is irrelevant. It is worth noting that Poland has also welcomed tens of thousands of refugees from Belarus (citizens of that country), who were threatened with imprisonment there due to their opposition activities. Refugees are people who are fleeing war or persecution, and not those who want to live in another country because they think they will be better off there. From the point of view of the rules of crossing the border with Poland, it also does not matter whether people who have arrived in Belarus are in any danger there, whether they are chased there by officials of the Belarusian regime with dogs, whether they are beaten there and herded to the Polish border like animals, or whether they are treated there like subhumans. Yes, such is Lukashenko’s Belarus and anyone who wants to travel there should know that they are exposed to such consequences. Companies encouraging this migration are lying and the grievances should be directed at them, not at Poland. Poland does not bear any responsibility for how migrants are treated in Belarus, and they are treated in a bestial way, as people were treated by Daesh. However, Poland will not negotiate with Lukashenko’s terrorists, who treat migrants as hostages, trying to force it to change its policy by playing with human tragedy and emotional blackmail. If Poland gave way, it would only contribute to an even greater tragedy, as it would encourage
The cause of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine
The cause of the war in Ukraine are plans to rebuild the empire by an aggressive power that Russia is. Russian leader Vladimir Putin himself, already in 2005, called the collapse of the USSR “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century” and repeatedly afterwards expressed his regret over the closure of this colonial-imperial entity. In the course of signing the acts of annexation of the Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, he once again stated that the collapse of the USSR was a “national catastrophe” that allegedly “shredded and torn our national unity alive”. The British might have as well written this about the disintegration of their Empire. Putin is trying to impose his imperial-colonial version of Russia’s history, which is supposedly “Holy Russia”, having a divine anointing to conquer neighbouring nations. In this context, he argued that Ukraine “is not just a neighbouring country for us […] it is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space”. There is as much truth in this as in the claim that the countries created after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire are not only neighbouring countries of Turkey, but are its inalienable part. Just as no Iraqi would agree with such an approach, Ukrainians reject Putin’s words. His thesis that Ukrainians supposedly are “small Russians” forming part of the great Russian nation is simply a slap in the face for Ukrainians. Neither Ukraine nor any other countries have given Russia any reason to fear for its security. Since the beginning of its invasion, Russia has lied on the subject, using various resentments operating, among others, in the Middle East, including particularly Iraq, in regards to the West, NATO and the USA. It is worth recalling that since the end of World War II in 1945, Russia has not been attacked, although it has done so many times. Dominated by Russia, the USSR has occupied, among others, Poland in the years of 1945-1993, invaded Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968, not to mention the invasion on Afghanistan and many other imperial-colonial aggressions. Poland, like many other Central European countries, despite the enormous harm suffered from the hands of Russia, tried to maintain friendly relations with it based on mutual respect and equal treatment. However, Russia does not want to be a normal country, but an empire. The territory of Russia, its sovereignty and territorial integrity have never been threatened. This also applies to national liberation movements in the Russian colonies, i.e. areas conquered mainly in the 19th century, which culturally, ethnically and historically have nothing to do with Russia, e.g. Chechnya, Buryatia, Kalmykia, etc. Although the colonial status of these areas is a historical injustice, in order to build friendly relations with Russia, it was decided to consider it an internal matter of Russia. However, this does not suffice for Russia. It believes that the sovereign states that were once part of its empire should be subordinate to it. This applies in particular to Ukraine, as well as Belarus, although also Poland and many other countries. From this perspective, it considers limiting its imperial sphere of influence through sovereign decisions of nations liberated from its yoke to be an “attack” on itself. No free nation can accept such an approach. Guarantees of independence for Ukraine and pro-Russian separatism The collapse of the USSR in 1991 was not the result of war or external pressure, but was agreed by the leaders of Soviet Russia, Belarus and Ukraine at a meeting in Białowieża in December 1991. In this way, Ukraine was reborn as an independent country. In the referendum held at that time, 90% of voters were in favour of independence, with a turnout of 84%. In the currently occupied by Russia regions of Ukraine, 84 percent in Luhansk Oblast, 77 percent in Donetsk Oblast, 90 percent in Kherson Oblast, and 54 percent in Crimea voted for independence. Russia unreservedly recognized not only Ukraine’s independence, but also its borders. Moreover, in December 1994, it signed the Budapest Memorandum, in which it declared itself as the guarantor of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, in exchange for Ukraine’s resignation from its nuclear arsenal. Pro-Russian separatism suddenly appeared in 2014, when Russia decided to punish Ukraine for striving for greater independence. It was not about a plan to admit Ukraine to NATO, as many NATO members opposed it, and therefore it was completely unrealistic. However, even if Ukraine was to join NATO, it would be a matter of its sovereign decision and the acceptance of other NATO members, and not some aggressive empire usurping the right to decide about others. The people of Iraq should understand this. In 2014, Ukrainians took to the streets to protest against the pro-Russian authorities, as they increasingly travelled to neighbouring Poland and saw the gap between how Poles lived and how they lived. Especially young Ukrainians wanted to develop and have the same perspectives as other Europeans and that is why they wanted Ukraine to start integrating with the European Union. Taking away this opportunity from them by the pro-Russian authorities was the final straw that broke the camel’s back, so they decided to protest and overthrew the then president. Ukrainians wanted to integrate with the economic structures (no one had thought about any Western weapons or NATO before the Russian aggression). Can they be blamed for this? Don’t young Iraqis want to have better lives too? However, the aforementioned separatism was not associated with any national minority striving for independence, because there is not and has never been a Donetsk, Luhansk or Crimean nation (the only Crimean nation is the Tatars, who are in favour of Ukraine). From the very beginning, the goal of “separatism” has been to seize the lands of Ukraine and their annexation to Russia and imposing a pro-Russian regime on Ukraine. “Separatism” was organized by Russian security agents, mercenaries and soldiers sent to Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk. They were called “the green men” because they operated in unmarked uniforms, which