BONN: Germany’s foreign minister warned that Russia could seek to spark division in the West through refugees, as Moscow seeks to expand its “hybrid war”.
“This war is not only waged with weapons, it is also waged with energy and for that, we have found an answer. But it will also be waged with fear and division, and that is precisely what we have to prevent,” said Annalena Baerbock
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at a congress of her Greens’ party.
“In this situation it is clear what will be next—refugees and not refugees from Ukraine... but because this war is hybrid, other countries are also participating,” Baerbock said, pointing to Serbia which she accused of letting in planeloads of migrants without visas.
Stressing that there cannot be a situation “where people are being used as weapons”, the minister said Germany was in talks with the Czech Republic and Slovakia on the issue.
Germany has in recent weeks warned about Belgrade’s visa-free travel regime for several countries whose citizens use Serbia as a springboard to enter the EU.
Serbia, a candidate for eventual EU membership, lies on the so-called Balkan route used by migrants heading towards Western Europe as they flee war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Although the route is nowhere as busy as it was during Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, tens of thousands still pass through the region annually.
Germany took in over a million migrants during the 2015 crisis, but the move left Europe’s biggest economy deeply divided. Misgivings among some voters eventually resulted in the arrival of the far-right AfD party in parliament.
The European Commission’s 2022 report on migration and asylum released this month found an “increasing number of people” were arriving by air to Serbia due to its “visa-free regimes”.
It said it was “crucial” that Western Balkan partners “align their visa policies” with the EU to decrease pressure on the route.
Russia said two gunmen from an ex-Soviet state at the weekend attacked a military training ground killing 11 people who had volunteered to fight in Ukraine and wounding 15 others.
Russia’s defence ministry said the attack in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, happened during a firearms training session.
Russia launched what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine at the end of February. Last month Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a mobilisation of 300,000 Russians who had previously done compulsory military service.
“On October 15, two citizens of a CIS country committed an act of terror at a training range of the Western military district in the Belgorod region,” the state news agencies quoted the ministry as saying.
“As a result, 11 people were fatally wounded. Another 15 people suffered injuries of varying gravity and were taken to medical facilities.”
The two attackers “were killed in retaliatory fire”, the ministry added.
The CIS, or Commonwealth of Independent States, was formed between republics that were part of the Soviet Union.
More than 200,000 people have been conscripted into the Russian armed forces since the announcement of partial mobilisation on September 21. The draft announcement sparked protests and several attacks on recruitment offices.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile said that his troops were facing a “most difficult” situation near the eastern town of Bakhmut, which has been under attack from the Russian army for weeks.
Ukraine is clawing back territory in both the east and south, occupied by Russia for months, but is facing a tough challenge in some areas.
“A very severe situation persists in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions” Zelensky said, referring to two regions Russia says its has annexed.
“The most difficult is near Bakhmut, like in previous days. We are still holding our positions,” he said.
Russian troops have for weeks been pummelling Bakhmut, a wine-making and salt-mining city that used to be populated by 70,000 people, in the hope of capturing the city.
Zelensky also said that Russia’s total losses were now approaching 65,000.
One soldier, just back from the front line, told AFP they had been fighting
for four days non-stop.
“Out of the 13 guys in my group, we lost two soldiers, and five got evacuated,” said the 50-year-old soldier, “Poliak”, from the 93rd brigade.
“For days I didn’t sleep, didn’t eat, didn’t drink except coffee,” he added.
France meanwhile said it would train up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers on its soil.
Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu said France would also provide Ukraine with Crotale air-defence systems “to allow them to defend their skies”.
