The head of German diplomacy warned this Saturday against the hybrid war waged by Russia that could seek to divide Europe by also promoting an influx of refugees to its territory.
“It’s not just a war being waged with weapons, it’s also being waged (on the) energy front and for that we have found an answer,” Annalena Baerbock told her environmental party’s congress in Bonn. West Germany.
But he hopes that the war will also be increasingly “fought with fear and division and that is precisely what we must avoid”.
The minister fears in particular an influx of refugees from countries other than Ukraine, “because this war is hybrid and other countries are participating in it”, accusing Serbia of contributing to a sharp increase in the arrival of immigrants in Europe.
The EU Member States as a whole criticize this Balkan country for being a gateway to the Union for Turkish, Indian, Tunisian, Cuban and Burundian immigrants, who do not need a visa to get there.
Rejecting a situation “where people are used as a weapon”, Germany is in contact in particular with the Czech Republic and Slovakia to find solutions against this de facto revival of the “Balkan route”.
Strong increase in tickets
Serbia, a candidate for the EU since 2012 but also close to Russia, is on this route that goes from Greece to Hungary or Croatia via North Macedonia or Albania.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians fleeing the war, Afghans or Iraqis had taken it during the great migration crisis of 2015.
Since 2016 and the closure of the borders, the number of crossings had decreased considerably, but this year they are on the rise again.
Germany alone hosted almost a million refugees in 2015, a massive influx that also contributed to the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, this country has already registered the entry into its territory of more than one million refugees, the vast majority of whom are women and children of Ukrainian nationality.
Source: BFM TV
