News from nowhere: panic grips Europe in the face of ‘imminent’ Russian invasion
DATELINE Sunday 12 June 2022, AP reports: European leaders urged calm as the westward surge of civilians panicked at a suspected imminent Russian invasion of the Baltic States, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania continued to increase. All major highways are blocked with stationary traffic now that Germany, France, and Austria have brought in restrictions on which EU citizens they will let cross their borders. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke at press conference in Brussels after an emergency meeting of EU leaders, saying: “We must not overreact to the build-up of Russian troops on the eastern borders. The citizens of those countries that border Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, should return to their homes.”
However, the exodus of people from central and eastern Europe turned from a trickle into a flood this week when US intelligence suggested that Russia’s army had now reached a “critical mass”, with sufficient battlegroups arrayed along NATO’s borders to commence “material incursions” within 72 hours from Friday night. A CIA spokesperson said: “If Putin does plan to continue his unprovoked attacks on previous Soviet-controlled countries, his army is now poised to do so. He will either attack those countries within the next 48 hours or he will be obliged to stand units down and return them to barracks for resupply. As with his invasion of Ukraine in February this year, all indicators point to an increasing likelihood of invasion, especially given that Putin and his military have been emboldened after Ukraine fell in less than a week.”
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO, reiterated the alliance’s commitment to defend its member states. He said: “Despite the strong concerns in those countries that are facing Russia, NATO forces are now fully ready to face any reckless attempt by Putin to continue his aim of reclaiming former Soviet-controlled territories.”
Nevertheless, despite this reassurance, scepticism is rife in the capitals of central European countries. President Duda of Poland complained: “Where is this European solidarity in the face of the aggressor? When Putin invaded Ukraine, we kept our border open for days beyond Kyiv’s capitulation, to allow as many Ukrainians as possible to flee the genocide we all knew would come. But now? Germany, France and Austria and even the UK have all closed their borders to fleeing Poles. Why? Because they are happy to see Poland destroyed in the fight to save the rest of Europe, just like it has always been in history.”
UK prime minister Boris Johnson defended the actions of his government, saying: “While we have been obliged to take the step of closing the UK’s borders, I maintain that no one in the world has done as much to help our European friends as Great Britain, and it will ever be thus.”
Ukrainian president-in-exile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said during a press conference in Paris: “More and more evidence of genocide comes to me and my team every day from proud Ukrainians inside my country. All Europe must get ready for the same treatment. The Russian army are murderers, rapists and looters. And soon, people in the Baltics, Poland, Romania and elsewhere will suffer what Ukrainians have been suffering for months.”
But at the same press conference, French president Macron claimed: “I am in contact with Putin almost daily, and he assures me that reports of atrocities in the newly acquired Russian territory are entirely false, made up by the former Nazi bandits from Kyiv. Furthermore, he has given me his word that the forces massed in the former Ukraine, Belarus and on the border with Finland are purely a defensive response to NATO’s provocative mobilisation. I urge all NATO countries to consider how we can avoid humiliating Russia so that we can find a diplomatic solution.”
Today, US president Joe Biden was visiting injured survivors of the latest mass shooting, in Michigan. When one reporter asked him for his opinion on current events in Europe, he said: “The US will stand fully by our fellow NATO members and we will respond to any unprovoked aggression by Russia. But to be real honest with you folks, if only Ukraine could have resisted the Russian invasion in February, who knows where we would be now? It sure is a shame those Ukrainians weren’t able to stand up to Russia.”
#StandWithUkraine #SlavaUkraine
