Day: November 18, 2023
Europe’s borders have started to look like a warzone with heavily armed guards facing-off against Taliban-backed people smuggling gangs carrying assault rifles.
Recent footage taken on the Serbia-Hungary border, an area dubbed a no-man’s land, showed a man carrying a machine gun pointing at CCTV cameras that monitor the razor-wire covered fence between the two nations.
This route is now being favoured by hordes of undocumented migrants seeking to breach Europe’s defences and according to the Telegraph, the Afghanistan-based hardline Islamist group, the Taliban, took over people smuggling operations last year
More than 110 miles of fencing guards the border between Hungary and Serbia, but every day there are a reported 1,400 crossing attempts making it the second busiest route after the Mediterranean Sea.
Smugglers charge around £900, plus a £240 transit fee, to migrants who want to tackle the fence. The Taliban are even reportedly using TikTok videos to advertise the trips.
According to the Telegraph, groups are organised with military precision into units of 20 men “armed with marbles, slingshots and sticks” to fight the border guards.
The newspaper reports a ladder is used first on the Serbian side and then a vanguard smuggler armed with Kalashnikov or a handgun covers the crossing, even opening fire on border guards who approach.
Photos from the area show both Hungarian and Serbian forces are now heavily armed, with armoured vehicles being used to patrol woodland around the border to seek out pockets of migrants.
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In October, six people were arrested after three people were killed in a shootout between rival smuggling gangs and in September one person was injured in another gun battle linked to the migrant trade.
Writing on X, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said: “Every country can deal with migration the way they want to, but they cannot force Hungary to copy the failed migration policies of Western Europe.
“We don’t want terrorism, gang wars and mini Gazas in Budapest!”
The leader added to his comments later, saying: “The bureaucrats in Brussels are in the pockets of a globalist elite. The European people don’t want migration, they don’t want war and they don’t want unrest.
“It’s time their voices are heard! It’s time to make a change in Brussels!”
Ukraine’s Air Force said it shot down 29 of the 38 Iranian-made Shahed drones fired by Russia — the highest reported number of drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack since Sept. 30. https://t.co/NfW3T4KiIT
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) November 18, 2023
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and French President Emmanuel Macron met at the Élysée Palace today.
The President of France first expressed his condolences to the Prime Minister on the death of Christian Ter-Stepanyan, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to UNESCO, Personal Representative of the Prime Minister of Armenia to the International Organization of La Francophonie. Emmanuel Macron once again emphasized France’s support to Armenia in the direction of further development and overcoming existing challenges.
Nikol Pashinyan thanked for the warm hospitality and condolences. The Prime Minister emphasized the development of Armenian-French cooperation in all fields, stressing the interest of the Armenian government in this matter.
The interlocutors discussed issues related to the process of normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. The importance of the principles set down in the four-sided Granada declaration of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany and the President of the European Council was emphasized in the matter of the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Reference was made to the humanitarian problems of more than 100,000 persons forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing policy, as well as to the steps taken by the Armenian government to overcome them. The support of the international community in solving the existing problems was highlighted.
Issues related to further deepening and expansion of Armenian-French cooperation in economy, infrastructure development and other fields were also discussed. The parties expressed their willingness to consistently continue the work in that direction.
Nikol Pashinyan and Emmanuel Macron exchanged thoughts on the issues of regional peace and stability, as well as Armenia-European Union cooperation.
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