The United States and Germany have already started preparations to quickly move people to safety should tensions between Ukraine and Russia degenerate into armed conflict. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands should at least inquire with those countries ‘on what information they base this’, says De Hoop Scheffer.
“You have to have everything logistically ready, bearing in mind Kabul and Afghanistan, that if you want to evacuate, it has to be done very quickly. That’s where it all went wrong. You also have to make all of Ukraine red on the map, not parts yellow.”
Russia has assembled a large force on the border with Ukraine. De Hoop Scheffer considers the chance ‘very small’ that the conflict can still be resolved through diplomatic means, given ‘the great unprocessed past’ that Russian President Vladimir Putin carries with him. He bases this, among other things, on his personal experiences with Putin during his time as secretary general of NATO.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday that it is not making any preparations yet. “We are constantly monitoring developments and we are constantly weighing up what steps we need to take. Of course, we also consider whether there is a reason to let embassy employees leave. There is no reason to do so at the moment.”
Orange travel advice still applies for most of Ukraine. This means that trips that are not strictly necessary are discouraged. There is only a general negative travel advice for the conflict areas of Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea.
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