Thousands of Ukrainians are trying to get to safety from the war.
(Photo: dpa)
Brussels, Berlin Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser actually wanted to visit the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in Bonn on Thursday. But instead of talking to the specialists for cyber attacks, the SPD politician had to deal with Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
“We are extremely attentive, vigilant and prepared with regard to the possible effects of this Russian war of aggression on the security situation in Germany and on refugee movements in Europe,” said Faeser after consulting with her country colleagues.
The security authorities have already prepared themselves intensively for all conceivable scenarios and taken protective measures – also with regard to possible cyber attacks. They will also follow very closely whether there are movements of Ukrainians to neighboring German countries, especially Poland, and give these states “massive support”.
Faeser had called the Polish Ministry of the Interior in the morning. So far, there have been no reports of major refugee movements to Poland, said the interior minister on Thursday afternoon. It is assumed, however, that there will initially be flight and expulsion within Ukraine. After that, the flight movement could also spread to neighboring countries and Germany.
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At the moment nobody knows how big it will be in the end. That depends on how far Russian President Vladimir Putin pushes the war. According to previous reports, Ukraine was attacked on several flanks, and the fighting is said to have spread to almost the entire country. Pictures showed traffic jams on Kiev’s arterial roads and long queues on the freeways.
>> Read here: Current developments in the Ukraine war in the news blog
The Vice President of the EU Commission, Margaritis Schinas, had mentioned a possible range of 20,000 to more than one million refugees. US secret services even spoke of up to five million. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe was prepared to help those seeking protection: “We hope that there will be as few refugees as possible, but we are fully prepared for them and they are welcome”. There are emergency plans for the EU states at the external borders to take in and accommodate refugees. So-called internally displaced persons within Ukraine are also being helped.
Poland would be the first country to be affected
The first country to be affected would be Poland, which has a 500-kilometre border with Ukraine. Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski stressed that his country had been prepared for weeks. Everything is done to ensure that refugees get accommodation. The government in Warsaw has already announced that it will set up nine reception points near the border with Ukraine. EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson thanked not only Poland but also the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary on Twitter for their willingness to grant refugees protection.
As Federal Interior Minister Faeser emphasized, Ukrainians who have a biometric passport can come to Germany without a visa and stay for up to 90 days. She also spoke with her country colleagues about the possibility of granting refugees from Ukraine a stay for “temporary protection”. You would then not have to go through an asylum procedure.
The corresponding paragraph 24 was included in the Residence Act as a consequence of the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Before it can be activated, however, the European Council must formally determine a “mass influx of displaced persons” into the EU, said Faeser. According to her, one should prepare for it.
The federal states are responsible for accommodating refugees, emphasized the Federal Minister of the Interior, who also held talks on Thursday with the Federal Criminal Police Office (BK), the BSI, the Federal Police, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) has already declared his state’s willingness to take in refugees. “For me it is clear: If people fleeing war seek refuge in Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia is ready to help,” he said. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania stops the repatriation of Ukrainians who are required to leave the country.
The managing director of the refugee organization Pro Asyl Deutschland, Günter Burkhardt, demanded that the Federal Republic must also be prepared to take in thousands of transit refugees who had already fled to Ukraine before other conflicts. “These include people from Syria, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Somalia,” Burkhardt told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.
Read here: How the Belarusian President exploited refugees
Countries like Poland, which would have protected themselves with fences against refugees from third countries smuggled through Belarus, should no longer close their borders. In late autumn, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko promised people from Syria or Afghanistan that he would pave the way for them to the EU via Belarus. In response to the growing number of refugees, Poland largely sealed off its border with Belarus.
Carlo Masala, a professor at the Bundeswehr University, reckons that refugee movements from Ukraine could now also be part of the Russian president’s “hybrid warfare”. “Putin wants to destabilize European societies through refugee flows,” Masala told Handelsblatt.
The political scientist now sees it as the turn of the federal government. “Now talks are needed with the European states to clarify how the refugees will be dealt with.” It must be clarified who will take in how many.
More: New calls to exclude Russia from the Swift payment system.