war in ukraine
Poland registers 15,000 arrivals in the country and will soon open nine centers for displaced Ukrainians
The European Union faces its “darkest hours” with determination. Brussels has a contingency plan in the face of Russian military attacks to shield its gas supplies, impose sanctions and offer humanitarian aid to Ukraine. With thousands of Ukrainians fleeing in fear of a Russian invasion, the continent “is ready to welcome” a wave of refugees. “They are welcome,” assured Ursula von der Leyen.
Without giving further details about this reception plan, the president of the European Commission defended that the EU “is together with Ukraine and the Ukrainians”, in a message signed by the rest of the community leaders.
Regarding the contingency plan, Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson explained that although it is still unknown what Putin’s next step will be, “we have to be prepared in case there is a massive influx of refugees into the EU.”
Poland is a key country because it shares a border with western Ukraine. It is towards there where the majority of the population flees because it is one of the zones, for the moment, free of Russian attacks. Warsaw has already expressed its solidarity with the Ukrainians and has been open to hosting displaced people.
In fact, the country will soon open the first nine reception centers to deal with the arrival of Ukrainians on its territory. According to the head of Polish border security, there have been “about 15,000 entries” in the last 24 hours.
Other countries have also shown their willingness to welcome those displaced by the conflict. Sweden has already conveyed that refugees are welcome on its territory, as well as Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Greece. In Spain, the autonomous communities of Castilla-La Mancha, Cantabria, Madrid and Barcelona have offered to welcome Ukrainians and have made themselves available to the central government.
Battery of sanctions
Until late Thursday, European leaders were meeting in an extraordinary summit in Brussels to discuss the next battery of “massive” sanctions on Russia. These new measures will affect the financial sector, the energy sector, technology imports and Russian exports and, according to diplomatic sources, will be applied in the next few hours.
These same sources indicate that the Twenty-seven are preparing a third round of punishments and are debating whether to apply them now or wait depending on the next steps that Vladimir Putin decides to take.
#ready #prepared #refugees