Just weeks ago, Europe was hurling moral indignation at the migrant crisis America allowed to unfold under a bridge near the US-Mexico border in Del Rio, Texas. As it happened, I alluded to Russian mischief in the title to my commentary on that crisis, namely “Er, VP Harris, the Migrants Are Coming, the Migrants Are Coming … Again,” October 26, 2021.
Now comes this tragically karmic development, thanks in large measure to Russian mischief – as reported by Agence France-Presse on November 11:
________
Ursula von der Leyen has described the influx of migrants on Belarus’ borders with EU countries as a ‘hybrid attack’ by an authoritarian regime on its neighbours.
Speaking after meeting US President Joe Biden in Washington, the European Commission president vowed to ‘protect democracies’ and said the two leaders shared a common assessment of the situation.
Threatening sanctions against countries [i.e. Russia and Hungary] found to be aiding Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko’s efforts to damage the EU, von der Leyen said efforts were being made to persuade them not to ‘fall into the trap’.
The EU has accused Belarus of organising the transport of people from Middle Eastern countries, duping them into believing they can enter Europe, as part of a campaign to create instability with a new wave of mass migration to the bloc.
________
In other words, when it comes to luring migrants under false pretenses – to cross borders into rich countries – Lukashenko and his puppet master Russian President Vladimir Putin make Latin American coyotes look like amateurs.
You’ve probably seen the heart-wrenching images of these migrants – huddling haplessly in the standoff between Polish border guards and the Belarusian troops hell-bent on goading, and reportedly even arming, them to complete this hybrid attack as if their lives depended on doing so.
But, as sympathetic as I am to the plight of these migrants, I don’t think Poland/Europe should allow Belarus/Russia to create a migrant crisis in Belarus and expect Poland/Europe to feel a moral obligation to solve it.
I applaud EU commissioner von der Leyen for condemning Lukashenko and Putin so forcefully for their gaslighting, rogue-state mischief, and for vowing to double down on sanctions commensurate with that condemnation. Poland/Europe must force Belarus to deal with these migrants. Otherwise Lukashenko and Putin will have no compunction about bombarding Europe with millions of them.
That said, I’m sure you recall how all media were telling us the migration crisis at the US-Mexico border was going to doom Biden’s presidency. Well:
The number of Haitian migrants attempting to cross into the United States fell by more than 90 percent in October after the Biden administration aggressively ramped up its use of deportation flights, according to preliminary U.S. Customs and Border Protection data obtained by The Washington Post.
CBP figures show about 1,000 Haitians were taken into custody along the Mexico border last month, down from 17,638 in September, when huge crowds waded across the Rio Grande to a makeshift camp in Del Rio, Tex., creating a humanitarian and political crisis for the Biden administration.
‘The Biden administration has pivoted to a clear, definite position on how it’ll be treating arrival of Haitian migrants,’ said Cris Ramon, an immigration policy analyst in Washington. ‘By leaning heavily on expulsions, it’s making people think twice.’
(The Washington Post, November 11, 2021)
Of course, I don’t expect right-wing, anti-government outrage machines like Fox News to report this. The dismay is that you would’ve been hard-pressed to find any mention of it even on CNN on MSNBC …
Meanwhile, over on the Ukraine-Russia border, Putin is seeking more attention with his military maneuvers as reported by Reuters on November 13:
__________
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said there are nearly 100,000 Russian soldiers near Ukraine’s border and that Western countries had shared information about active Russian troop movements with Kyiv.
‘I hope the whole world can now clearly see who really wants peace and who is concentrating nearly 100,000 soldiers at our border,’ he said in a video of a speech on Wednesday carried on his website.
The Russian troop movements near the Ukrainian border have spurred fears of a possible attack. Moscow has dismissed such suggestions as inflammatory and complained about increasing activity in the region by the NATO transatlantic alliance.
________
Except Moscow gaslighting is such that, just the day before denying any such intent to Reuters, its minister of foreign affairs brazenly admitted to ABC News that Russia “is looking for the opportunity to move further into Ukrainian territory.” I’ve been mocking Russia’s attempts to make the moves on Ukraine for years in commentaries like “Russia to Ukraine: Be My Valentine or I Kill You!” February 14, 2015.
But, truth be told, just like Lil’ Kim with his missiles, czar Pootie plays with his soldiers and military hardware because that makes him feel big and strong. But, just as I see no point in getting all worked up over Kim’s missiles falling harmlessly into the sea, as they invariably do, I see no point in getting all worked up over Pootie’s military maneuvers in de facto Russian territory. After all, there’s practically no way to stop it.
Still, given Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea, and the way Russia is gobbling up eastern Ukraine, Zelensky’s worries are well-founded. Unfortunately, the only deterrent is NATO making quite a show of funneling so many military arms into Ukraine that Putin dares not invade. Not least because every Russian soldier on the frontlines would be trembling at the thought of crossing, knowing it would amount to little more than a suicide mission.
In which case, of course, the only winners will be the arms merchants behind the military industrial complex Eisenhower famously warned about. But hey, the whole Cold War was premised on this kind of MAD standoff.
Related commentaries:
migrants are coming… Zelensky… Putin to Ukraine… Russia gobbling up Ukraine… South Abkhazia…
Crimea…