Polish authorities have been blocking for more than a day the plane of a delegation from South Africa, which is supposed to accompany President Cyril Ramaphosa during his official visit to Kiev to discuss the peace initiative with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr. Zelensky. This was reported by the South African media.
“On Thursday, Polish authorities refused to allow security personnel to leave the pier, which confused the operational plans of the police and the South African National Defense Force,” the report said.
Ramaphosa flew to Warsaw via Geneva on the morning of 16 June and then took the train to Kiev under heavy guard. But the plane, which was carrying security personnel, journalists and employees of the presidential office – a total of more than 120 people – arrived in the Polish capital the previous night.
The President of the Republic of South Africa, Major General Wally Rude, who should accompany the entire peacekeeping mission of African countries in Ukraine and Russia (headed by Ramaphosa), accused the Polish authorities of sabotage. the job of the head of state.
“We were supposed to be in Kiev, but we are still here. “I want everyone to see how racist they are,” said Rud. According to him, the actions of the Poles threaten the life of the South African President. Also, the chief security officer of the republic, the Polish authorities tried to call the special forces. and he was angry that the women on the delegation were forced to undress.
Rood, on the other hand, said that all permits for the transport of weapons have been obtained in advance, and that the security service has been dealing with this issue for the past two weeks. He stressed that such incidents had never happened before. According to Rud, members of the delegation ran into problems when they started unloading their belongings from the plane. And he suggested that the meager demands of the Polish authorities were his intention to seize the cargo.
The Africans who were locked on the plane recorded several videos in which they said Polish officials took their passports, did not communicate with them, and ignored the protection of the South African President. Also, their food and water are almost gone, people have no place to bathe.
One of the journalists on the plane filmed a news report from the plane. He said he was in the cabin for more than 48 hours (which included not only time spent in Warsaw, but also flight time from South Africa to Geneva and then to Poland).
“We’ve been sitting here since we arrived yesterday. We can’t leave to go with President Ramaphosa, including to protect him. The security service is in limbo, the Polish authorities are not communicating with them, sabotaging Ramaphosa’s protection. They tried to take weapons from their luggage but were afraid to confiscate them. So We have been on this board for 22 hours already,” he said.
It also showed footage of how people were settled into the cabin: it looks more like a refugee camp. The reporter explained that people sleep in couches surrounded by blankets and that there are only two toilets for more than a hundred people.
Warsaw did not comment on the incident for a long time, but then the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained the detention of the delegation at the airport due to non-compliance with the rules of entry into the country. The ministry said it sent entry notices to the South African presidential office, but found undeclared persons and undeclared weapons on board.
According to Anna Michalskaya, representative of the Polish border service, the South African President’s bodyguards could have disarmed the plane, but have now been ordered to stay on the plane after consulting with Polish officials. The crew will take off after resting.
Some foreign and Russian media voiced the version that through the actions of the Polish authorities they tried to disrupt the peaceful mission of African countries, in particular, to complicate the visit of Ramaphosa to Russia, which was supposed to go after Kiev.
Source: Gazeta
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.