Govt stalls Donbas evacuation
PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp
05.01.2015 14:26
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Govt stalls Donbas evacuation
Plans to evacuate around 200 people of Polish descent from the Russian separatist-held enclave of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine have been yet again put on hold.
A soldier carries wood at a snow covered position of the Ukrainian volunteer battalion 'Donbas' not far from the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk, 02.01.2015. Photo: PAP/EPA/IVAN BOBERSKYY
As John Beauchamp reports, the move has prompted heated debate among Poland’s politicians: while some are apologetic for the situation, some believe that the government should have made contingency plans long ago for the possible evacuation of Poles in war-torn Ukraine.
“If today we are seeing a rather large group of people at a centre near Kharkhiv, then de facto this evacuation process has begun,” Minister for Administration and Digitisation Andrzej Halicki said during a live debate on Polish Radio.
Nevertheless, tempers flared as Andrzej Rozenek from the liberal Your Movement party said “these people are waiting on their suitcases, they have sold their properties, they are at risk of being put in danger ... This is a disgrace and currently Poland is showing its weakness.”