GRANADA, Spain: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned European leaders on Thursday that Russia could rebuild its military capabilities and attack other countries within five years if the continent were to waver in its support for Kyiv.
Zelensky, attending a summit of the European Political Community in Spain, also said he remained confident of continued US and European financial aid despite “political storms” in Washington and elsewhere.
In an emotional speech, Zelensky described how Ukrainian children in the eastern city of Kharkiv were learning remotely or attending classes in subway stations because of air raids.
“Until there is a fully effective air defense system, children cannot attend school,” he told the gathering in the city of Granada.
Underlining the horrors of war, a Russian attack on a village in the Kharkiv region on Thursday killed at least 51 people, including a six-year-old boy, Ukrainian officials said.
Zelensky said that by providing additional military equipment to Ukraine, European countries could help ensure that a “drone, tank, or any other Russian weapon will not strike anyone else in Europe.”
“We must not allow (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to destabilize any other parts of the world and our partners in order to ruin Europe’s power,” Zelensky said.
“The presence of Russia, its military or proxies in the territory of any other country is a threat to all of us. We must work together to push Russia out of the territory of other countries,” he added.
The European Political Community was established last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to foster cooperation among more than 40 countries from Norway to Moldova.
The Granada gathering gives leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a chance to re-state their commitment to Ukraine after political turbulence in both the US and Europe raised questions about continued support.
A dispute among the Republican majority in the US House of Representatives has complicated budget negotiations and prompted President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to go from confidence that a deal will be made on Ukraine aid to openly expressing concern.
Support in Europe has also appeared less rock-solid after pro-Russian former Prime Minister Robert Fico won an election in Slovakia last weekend on pledges to end military aid to Ukraine.
Zelensky admitted he was concerned but said he was optimistic about continued support.
“The situation with the Unites States is dangerous, it’s a tough period,” he said after holding several meetings at the summit.
He added: “I think that the United States and Europe will be together with Ukraine and we will together get out of this crisis.” The head of the European Commission, the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen, said the bloc was working on a 50 billion-euro Ukraine package for 2024-2027, adding that she was “very confident” about continued US help for Kyiv.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Ukraine could continue to count on support from Europe.
“There is a very deep, very strong commitment because we all know that we are talking about Europe and about the very possibility of lasting peace on our continent,” he said.
Individual countries also made pledges in Granada.
Germany was working on the supply of an additional Patriot air defense missile system to Ukraine in the winter months Scholz said, while a government source said Spain had offered Ukraine another six HAWK air defense systems to protect the country’s grain corridor and critical infrastructure.
Zelensky said he had discussed with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the summit host, a new military aid package, energy assistance, and how to keep open a corridor in the Black Sea for Ukrainian grain exports.
Russia pulled out of a deal in July that had allowed Ukraine — a leading global grain exporter — to safely ship food products out via the Black Sea.
Russia has so far rejected UN overtures to revive the deal, while Ukraine is continuing some exports via what it calls a temporary “humanitarian corridor” for cargo vessels.
Ukraine’s efforts to export grain overland via EU countries have caused tensions with Poland and some other eastern members of the bloc that are keen to protect their own farmers. Kyiv and Brussels are also discussing expanding alternative sea routes.
The summit will also discuss efforts by Ukraine and others to join the EU as well as how to tackle increasing arrivals of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa — both seen as existential challenges for the bloc.
“Going from an EU of 27 to an EU of 35 will create many challenges internally. We will open in Granada this large debate that will take us to a deep reform of the EU,” said Sanchez.
Talks on the margins of Thursday’s gathering were focused on crises between Azerbaijan and Armenia and between Serbia and Kosovo, which have flared in recent weeks amid floundering EU efforts at mediation.
Zelensky tells Europe: Russia will attack others if Ukraine loses
https://arab.news/9qrtm
Zelensky tells Europe: Russia will attack others if Ukraine loses
- Ukraine’s Zelensky joins other European leaders in Spain
- Ukraine’s air defenses, food exports in focus in Granada
Bangladesh halts controversial relocation of Rohingya refugees to remote island
- Administration of ousted PM Sheikh Hasina spent about $350m on the project
- Rohingya refuse to move to island and 10,000 have fled, top refugee official says
DHAKA: When Bangladesh launched a multi-million-dollar project to relocate Rohingya refugees to a remote island, it promised a better life. Five years on, the controversial plan has stalled, as authorities find it is unsustainable and refugees flee back to overcrowded mainland camps.
The Bhasan Char island emerged naturally from river sediments some 20 years ago. It lies in the Bay of Bengal, over 60 km from Bangladesh’s mainland.
Never inhabited, the 40 sq. km area was developed to accommodate 100,000 Rohingya refugees from the cramped camps of the coastal Cox’s Bazar district.
Relocation to the island started in early December 2020, despite protests from the UN and humanitarian organizations, which warned that it was vulnerable to cyclones and flooding, and that its isolation restricted access to emergency services.
Over 1,600 people were then moved to Bhasan Char by the Bangladesh Navy, followed by another 1,800 the same month. During 25 such transfers, more than 38,000 refugees were resettled on the island by October 2024.
The relocation project was spearheaded by the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted last year. The new administration has since suspended it indefinitely.
“The Bangladesh government will not conduct any further relocation of the Rohingya to Bhasan Char island. The main reason is that the country’s present government considers the project not viable,” Mizanur Rahman, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox’s Bazar, told Arab News on Sunday.
The government’s decision was prompted by data from UN agencies, which showed that operations on Bhasan Char involved 30 percent higher costs compared with the mainland camps in Cox’s Bazar, Rahman said.
“On the other hand, the Rohingya are not voluntarily coming forward for relocation to the island. Many of those previously relocated have fled ... Around 29,000 are currently living on the island, while about 10,000 have returned to Cox’s Bazar on their own.”
A mostly Muslim ethnic minority, the Rohingya have lived for centuries in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state but were stripped of their citizenship in the 1980s and have faced systemic persecution ever since.
In 2017 alone, some 750,000 of them crossed to neighboring Bangladesh, fleeing a deadly crackdown by Myanmar’s military. Today, about 1.3 million of them shelter in 33 camps in the coastal Cox’s Bazar district, making it the world’s largest refugee settlement.
Bhasan Char, where the Bangladeshi government spent an estimated $350 million to construct concrete residential buildings, cyclone shelters, roads, freshwater systems, and other infrastructure, offered better living conditions than the squalid camps.
But there was no regular transport service to the island, its inhabitants were not allowed to travel freely, and livelihood opportunities were few and dependent on aid coming from the mainland.
Rahman said: “Considering all aspects, we can say that Rohingya relocation to Bhasan Char is currently halted. Following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime, only one batch of Rohingya was relocated to the island.
“The relocation was conducted with government funding, but the government is no longer allowing any funds for this purpose.”
“The Bangladeshi government has spent around $350 million on it from its own funds ... It seems the project has not turned out to be successful.”
