Millions of Ukrainian refugees poured into many European countries, and Europe tasted the bitter fruit of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict

Source: Global Times

US Vice President Harris's visit to Warsaw on the 10th did not satisfy Poland's desire to hand over its MiG-29 fighter jet to Ukraine through the United States. The influx of refugees into Ukraine's neighbors over the past few days has evoked images of large numbers of refugees seeking refuge in Europe after the wars in Syria, Iraq and North Africa in previous years. Europeans find themselves once again in the embarrassment of "following the United States to start a war, but Europe alone to pay for it." The United States took the lead in banning the import of Russian oil and gas, which further embarrassed Europeans. About 40% of Europe's natural gas and 25% of its oil come from Russia, while the United States imports negligible oil from Russia, and the military conflict has made the European economy under the epidemic worse, and prices in many countries have risen to "heartache". "History has cruelly returned", the British "Guardian" said on the 10th, the war in Ukraine will test Europe's ability to withstand, "Europe has shown abundant political vitality, but sometimes lack of strategic calm, which is worrying."

U.S. Vice President Harris (left) and Polish President Douda (right)

Emergence of the "second largest city" on the Polish border

"Europe is facing the biggest refugee crisis since World War II", the Us "Wall Street Journal" described on the 9th, since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict, more than 2 million people have fled to the European Union, and the vast majority of people flocked to the eastern countries of the European Union. Every 3 seconds 2 Ukrainians enter Poland. About 1.4 million people currently arriving in Poland will "create the country's second largest city" at the border, and Polish officials estimate that by next week, the population of this "city" could exceed that of warsaw, the country's largest city.

CNN said on the 10th that most Ukrainian refugees fled to Poland, and a large number of refugees entered neighboring Hungary, Moldova, Romania and Slovakia. The Wall Street Journal said other European countries were also preparing for the influx of refugees. Italy, one of the countries with the largest ethnic Ukrainians in Europe, said 800,000 refugees could arrive in the coming weeks. The UK has already accepted around 300 Ukrainian refugees. A spokesman for the German Interior Ministry said that as of the 9th, more than 80,000 Ukrainian refugees had been registered in Germany.

Polish media predicted that as the war continued, three or four million refugees would cross the border into Poland. On the 10th, the Global Times reporter found during an interview at the Polish-Ukrainian border that the number of refugees at some smaller border ports has decreased compared with previous days, and the tents set up for refugees are also moving out, but in large border crossings such as Medica, refugees are still crowded. Due to the lack of a unified organization, there was a certain degree of confusion in the distribution of supplies and refugee relief on the Polish border. At present, Poland has evacuated most of its refugees to major cities such as Warsaw and Lublin, but as the number of refugees increases, some small and medium-sized cities will also usher in a wave of refugees.

According to the Polish newspaper Republic, the influx of refugees has paralyzed Poland's railway lines and railway stations. Many refugees are stranded in railway stations, placing a great burden on urban transportation and the working life of Polish citizens. As Poland canceled COVID-19 testing measures during the refugee reception, the media feared that Poland would usher in a new wave of COVID-19 and influenza outbreaks.

Last week, the European Union announced that it would allocate 500 million euros for humanitarian assistance, but Poland's deputy foreign minister, Jablonski, said the support was "certainly not enough."

Harris avoided the fighter incident

"Despite the warplane incident, Harris said that the United States and Poland are 'united'", CNN said on the 10th, US Vice President Harris visited Poland on the same day, and at a joint press conference held after meeting with Polish President Duda, Harris said that she came to Poland to confirm the "lasting and important relationship" between the United States and Poland, and expressed a "united" position on the Ukrainian issue. But Harris avoided talking about Poland's rejection of the MiG-29 fighter jet offered to Ukraine the day before, stressing that the United States was already providing military support to Ukraine, including anti-tank missiles.

The Washington Post said on the 9th that donating fighters to Ukraine "may be subject to military retaliation by Russia", and Poland let the United States turn to a belligerent aircraft ,"aiming to transfer responsibility to the United States." A senior European official also said Western officials were "shocked" by Poland's approach. The Guardian said on the 9th that so far, the anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles provided by the West to Ukraine have angered Russia, but they have not yet led to direct retaliation against any relevant country, and Poland's desire to provide fighters to Ukraine is obviously a step further.

According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported on the 10th, the topic of donating fighters exposed the differences within NATO. Harris will also meet canadian Prime Minister Trudeau in Poland, who is visiting Warsaw, followed by a visit to Romania.

CNN said on the 10th that after the United States rejected Poland's "unexpected proposal" to hand over the fighter aircraft to Ukraine through the hands of the United States, Harris's task was to ease relations with Poland, a "key ally". The Polish proposal "created a conundrum for the United States." Harris will also meet with Ukrainian refugee representatives in Poland. The US Political News Network said on the 10th that her visit was not to reach any agreement, whether it was humanitarian assistance or the transfer of military equipment.

Qatar's Al Jazeera said Europe could not agree on a response to the crisis in Ukraine. The foreign policy of some EU countries is to "appease" Russia in exchange for "the division of Sino-Russian relations" and to improve their relations with Russia; at the same time, Central and Eastern European countries such as Poland in the EU seek military confrontation with Russia. Stradna, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, said these different positions led Russia to "look down" on the geopolitical power of the EUROPEAN Union and not to see the EU as an important player in diplomatic relations.

According to the European News Agency, on the 11th, the eu heads of state and government will debate measures to strengthen the EU's strategic autonomy in France, and the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict has further strengthened the urgency of this topic. Polls show that the Russian-Ukrainian military conflict has exacerbated the insecurity of the EU people, and when asked how they feel about the current war, most of the respondents reacted negatively, with 31% feeling scared, 15% angry, and 11% sad.

European gasoline rises to "sky-high prices"

With the influx of refugees and russia-related sanctions, the polish price level continued to soar, and oil prices rose nearly 1/3 of a week. In Germany, the price of gasoline has risen to a sky-high price of 2.10 euros per liter. Many complain that the cost of gas for daily commuting is twice as high as in the past. The retail price of supermarket items is also growing in double digits or even doubled, and many items are simply not available.

"The escalation of the war hangs over our heads like the sword of Damocles." The "German Editorial Network" said on the 10th that at present, all the government's budgets have reached the limit. German Economy Minister Harbek warned on the evening of the 9th that if it follows the United States and immediately bans Russian oil and gas, it will lead to a 5% recession in Germany.

CBS said on the 9th that under the pressure of the United States and Britain, Europe is facing a difficult choice, that is, is it worth it to cut off Russia's oil and gas revenues and plunge itself into recession? Europe's boycott of Russia will mean higher oil prices and utility bills, which will lead to an energy crisis and recession at a time when the economy is still recovering from the pandemic. The price of everything from food to electricity is already heart-wrenchingly high.

The United States "Fortune" magazine said on the 9th that now, Europe's energy problems are more urgent: cut off the Russian economy and its largest trading partner, what to do next winter and beyond? Or even next month, what if Putin countered the threat of EU and US sanctions with an energy embargo? Europe will test what can be obtained in a state of war.

The U.S. is "all good," Europe is "very bad."

"When Europe slides into recession, the United States is in a better situation", Germany's "Economic Weekly" said on the 10th, the reason why the United States took tougher measures against Russia in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is because it has less impact on the United States itself. The internal resilience and flexibility of the U.S. economy are also high, and the United States is also a major energy power and dominates world finance. Germany's "Business Daily" also said on the 10th that the British Johnson government also "benefited" from the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, and after differences over "Brexit", the EU and the United Kingdom re-sat at the negotiating table because of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

"The United States is promoting the war between Europe and Russia", Russian tsargrad TV reported on the 8th, Russian political scientist Ichenko said that European countries do not want or even fear open conflict with Russia. The United States pushed Poland and Romania to supply Ukraine with their warplanes, and if these fighters were based in Polish or Romanian territory to participate in combat operations, it would undoubtedly provoke Russia to fight back. Eventually, NATO countries will be involved in the conflict. Poland was clearly aware of the consequences and opposed the U.S. plan. The United States is maximizing the contradictions between Europe and Russia and pushing Europe towards a direct confrontation with Russia, which will have disastrous consequences for Europe.

According to the US "National" magazine, Ukraine is the only country in the world with neo-Nazi organizations in the military. The "Azov Battalion" was originally formed by the neo-Nazi gang "Ukrainian Patriots". The Ukrainian police are also flooded with far-right supporters. These far-right forces succeeded in hijacking the post-color revolution Ukrainian government, imposing a culture of paranoia and ultra-nationalism on the land. And the U.S. is telling the rest of Europe: "We have no problem with that. "It's deeply disturbing.

According to the Russian News Agency reported on the 9th, Russian State Duma congressman Mattvichev said that the United States hopes to achieve two goals through the Conflict in Ukraine: to eliminate the Slavs and to deal a blow to the European economy. Now, he said, energy prices in Europe have risen sharply as a result of sanctions against Russia. If Russia retaliates by halting energy supplies, Europe's economy will collapse outright, shrinking by at least 20 percent. In this case, half of the capital will flee from Europe to the United States. At the same time, Americans will profit from supplying European gas at 5 times the price of Russian gas. "It's all good for Americans, and it's a very bad prospect for Europeans."