The Ukraine war has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives, but Germany’s top intelligence chief is predicting far more carnage, and Ukraine’s opposition is reacting with outrage.
Bruno Kahl, the head of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) made the comments in an interview, saying:
“If a war in Ukraine comes to a standstill earlier than (2029 or 2030), then all the means (of Russia) – both the technical and the material – are able much earlier to provide a threat against Europe.”
In Ukraine, this portion of the interview has been met with sharp backlash.
German newspaper Berliner Zeitung now asks:
“Will the war be waged on the backs of the Ukraine?”
Perhaps a ridiculous question concerning it has already been waged on their backs for the last three years.
The paper further writes:
“In Ukraine, that passage is causing excitement. The reading in Kyiv: The German intelligence chief publicly declares that the Ukraine war should not end before 2029. Otherwise, Russia could use its resources faster to pose a threat to Europe.”
🇭🇺🇺🇦 PM Orbán: Europe’s wars lead to fewer White Christian Europeans and more migrants
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) May 28, 2024
Hungary's leader says the war in Ukraine is a demographic disaster, just like WWI and WWII were for Hungary. Now, migrants will be being used to fill the missing gaps. pic.twitter.com/IEwMOcJmxv
In other words, a peace deal would not benefit Europe if it happens before the next five years. Instead, the German chief hints that it is in Europe’s interest to continue sending waves of Ukrainian men to die at the front.
The former prime minister of Ukraine, who still remains one of the most powerful voices in the country, Yulia Tymoshenko, reacted to Kahl’s statements. On her Facebook page, she wrote that “something slipped” out of Kahl’s mouth that Ukrainians “did not want to admit” to themselves.
“Did someone decide to pay for the exhaustion of Russia in the name of security in Europe with the existence of Ukraine and the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians? I never thought that it would be discussed so officially and openly,” she wrote. She then called for Zelensky to immediately end the war and sign a peace agreement.
As chairman of the opposition Fatherland Association, Tymoshenko complained that even the closest allies of Ukraine primarily pursue their own interests. She is calling on the Ukrainian parliament to address Kahl’s statement.
Oleksij Hontscharenko, from the European Solidarity Group, also made a similar statement on Telegram:
“Not in five or ten years. Let’s end it. To rebuild the economy and expand the army. It is important to preserve our country now, We don’t have to save anyone. We have to save ourselves.”
Ukrainian political scientist Anatoliy Oktysjuk said that Kahl’s statements only confirm what he has been saying for some time.
“Of course, peace negotiations and an end to our war are unfavorable for Europe. Should the Ukrainians struggle as long as possible so that it remains calm in Europe?”
On social media, Oktysjuk wrote that Kahl is only now honestly admitting what Oktysjuk had been talking about for the past two years.
There is growing unease in Ukraine about the humanitarian toll the war is taking on the Ukrainian population, which is seeing the worst demographic development in the entire world due to its high death rate, low birth rate, and a huge wave of emigration. In short, Ukrainians are increasingly fighting for a land that may not exist when the war is over. Already there are calls from business leaders in Ukraine to import Third World migrants to replace the men who have been lost.
Tymoshenko has become more outspoken in the media in recent months and has taken to sniping at Zelensky. Zelensky, however, has nothing to fear, as elections have been suspended in Ukraine as long as the war continues.
