Ukrainian soldiers and veterans are not a threat: Foreign Ministry responds to Duda's statements
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry disagreed with the Polish president's statement about a possible threat from the Ukrainian military after the war. The Ministry emphasized that veterans are a security factor for the whole of Europe.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has responded to Polish President Andrzej Duda's statement that after the cessation of hostilities, crime will spread across the border from Ukraine to Poland. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that Ukrainian soldiers and veterans are not a threat but a security factor for Ukraine, Poland and the whole of Europe, and that they are the key to a free and stable European future. This is stated in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports UNN.
We are sincerely grateful to Poland for the large-scale assistance provided to Ukraine, as well as to Polish President Andrzej Duda personally for consistently promoting Ukraine's interests and calling on our partners to increase their support for our country. At the same time, we do not agree with the presentation of Ukrainian soldiers who are risking their lives today to defend Europe from the Russian invasion as a potential threat to European security
The ministry reminds that after 2014, when hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have already passed through the front, there has been no significant increase in crime or threats to Poland or Europe.
Ukrainian soldiers and veterans are not a threat, but a security factor for Ukraine, Poland and the whole of Europe. They are the key to a free and stable European future. We are convinced that the brave Ukrainian men and women who stood up to defend their country and the world from Russian invaders deserve the highest respect
Addendum
In an interview with the Financial Times, Polish President Andrzej Duda said he was concerned that after the cessation of hostilities, crime would spread across the border from Ukraine to Poland, affecting Western Europe and the United States. He compared the situation to Russia in the early 1990s, when banditry and firearms violence among veterans of the decade-long Soviet occupation of Afghanistan increased dramatically.
"Imagine a situation where thousands of people from the front are returning home. Those people who are fighting Russia, many of them will have mental problems. Remember the times when the USSR collapsed, and how much the level of organized crime increased in Western Europe and in the United States," Duda said.