Since the announcement of the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of people in Russia to join the army in the Ukraine war, many Russians have tried to flee the country to avoid being called up. “I’m leaving because I’m not crazy and because I don’t want to die,” a Russian trying to flee the country told BFMTV on Thursday.
“I feel like I’m in a nightmare, that someone wants to force me to die for a cause I don’t believe in,” he continues.
Given these leaks, Germany announced Thursday that it was ready to receive deserters from the Russian army “threatened with serious repression.” “Whoever bravely opposes Putin and thus puts himself in great danger can apply for political asylum in Germany,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.
Anyone who hates the path chosen by Putin and loves liberal democracy is welcome in Germany. had already written on Wednesday to the Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann.
“In fact, they can be welcomed as political refugees”
France has not yet officially positioned itself on the issue, but for Gérard Araud, former French ambassador to the United States, “the Germans are beginning to propose it, I think France should do the same.” Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, “under pressure from our Eastern partners, we have stopped giving visas to Russians to come to Europe,” he explains on BFMTV.
But even if they continue down this path, it would be nice if he opened the borders to these Russian refugees.
“I think they can actually be welcomed as political refugees. Defection is a political act anyway,” agrees Colonel Michel Goya, defense consultant for BFMTV.
An opinion shared by Sylvie Bermann, diplomatic consultant for BFMTV, former French ambassador to Russia.
“I think we have to welcome them. We are not going to lock the Russians in Russia ourselves,” he explains on our set.
In August, a Russian journalist was alarmed at The world the abolition of tourist visas for Russians in various European countries, criticizing the fact that “Western officials – and not the Russian authorities – want to definitively restore the Soviet Union, re-establishing the Iron Curtain”, and recalling that the population Russia was repressed, and also a victim of the Kremlin’s actions.
“It is in our interest to welcome you”
However, not all European countries have bet on Germany, with the Czech Republic declaring that it would refuse to grant visas to Russian defectors. “I understand that the Russians are fleeing Putin’s increasingly desperate decisions,” said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, “but those who flee their country because they do not want to fulfill a duty imposed by their own state do not meet the criteria to receive humanitarian aid. visa”.
“There is a division in Europe because the Eastern countries, for quite understandable historical reasons, have this hostility towards Russia. But I don’t think it’s our role to adopt these positions”, deciphers Sylvie Bermann.
Gérard Araud points out the clear interest that there may be in taking in Russian deserters “for humanitarian and even military reasons”, for example “depriving the Russians of manpower” in the war, in particular experts in certain fields “because obviously it is the people who have the means who leave” as “specialists needed by the Russian army”.
“I think it is in our interest, including our interest in the future, regardless of when this war ends, regardless of what happens to them in the future: are they going to return to Russia? Are they going to stay here? – but it is in our interest for welcoming them,” supports Sylvie Bermann.
At the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, there had already been a first exodus of Russians who opposed the assault or feared mobilization. No official estimate has been made public, but it affected at least tens of thousands of people. The Kremlin for its part said that about 10,000 people have volunteered to be mobilized for the offensive in Ukraine after Vladimir Putin’s announcement on Wednesday.
Source: BFM TV
