Tensions between Russia and NATO have increased in recent years, particularly because of the war in Ukraine that has been ongoing since 2022. Russia supports the separatists in eastern Ukraine, fighting against the pro-Western government in Kyiv.
NATO has pledged military and political assistance to Ukraine to help the country defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Some experts are warning of the danger of a direct war between Russia and NATO, which could also affect Germany. They argue that Russia could seek to provoke or divide NATO by attacking parts of NATO territory or threatening attacks on critical infrastructure.
Russia has a large arsenal of conventional and nuclear weapons that it could use to pressure or blackmail NATO.
According to other experts, a war between Russia and NATO is unlikely, if not impossible. They point out that Russia is inferior to NATO both militarily and economically and that a war would have catastrophic consequences for both sides. Russia is more interested in peaceful coexistence with NATO, but also in its own interests and spheres of influence.
Whether there will be a war between Russia and NATO depends on many factors: the further course of the conflict in Ukraine, the attitude of the USA and the European states, the willingness for dialogue and diplomacy, the role of international organizations and of public opinion.
It is important that all sides strive to find a peaceful solution to the existing conflicts and avoid escalation.
While the Western world reacts partly angrily and with speechlessness, "the most massive sanctions" are being prepared against Russia, according to the German Foreign Office.
President Volodymyr Selensky spoke of a war of aggression, "The world must force Russia to make peace", he said, according to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.
In addition, Kamianka-Dniprovska and Mykolaiv and the Kulbakinsky airfield were shelled. People were injured and a shop and three houses were destroyed. The Ukrainian army is unexpectedly strong, and Putin's Soldateska has to fear the partisans formed from citizens. The Russians concede that about 50 soldiers of the aggressors have been killed.
Consideration is being given to bringing Vladimir Putin and his entourage before an international war crimes tribunal.
The front can currently only be traced by Russian military columns that have crossed the borders at Kharkiv, Luhansk and Chernihiv. The Belarusian army is in tow. After the brutal bombardment of civilian targets in Kharkiv, the Russian news agency Interfax has a suitable excuse at hand.
Alexander Lukashenko, according to Belta, wants to act as an angel of peace and let Putin's troops through, and in the height of cynicism, he wants to prevent bloodshed and massacres. For the latter, he is the specialist. Not to forget, Belarusian forces attacked Ukraine at dawn.
Vladimir Putin has sounded the attack. During the night, he attacked cities in Ukraine. There are no reports of deaths or injuries so far.
Mariupol is reported to be under heavy fire. In the recordings from the night, bright flashes and heavy explosions can be seen. Another emergency meeting of the UN Security Council has been held in New York.
Putin's soldiery marched into the neighbouring country without reason and without foreseeing the consequences, to create facts that fit the world view of those in power in the Kremlin.
The Greek TV station Mega Channel put it in a nutshell. Erdogan had provided free transport to the border and threatened soon to send millions of refugees to the Greek border. According to Mega Channel, these are people who have nothing to do with Syria. According to Mega Channel, chemicals are dropped from drones. In the meantime, the action of Erdogan seems like a siege of Greece. According to various sources, Erdogan is using the refugees, some of whom, according to sources, have been brought to Turkey by Turkish smugglers from Bangladesh, Pakistan and other countries, as henchmen for his bizarre policy.
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Source: Mega Channel
Meanwhile, the situation on Lesbos escalates, here are several reports about it.
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Erdogan's cynical games
Overnight thousands of refugees had to spend the night on the ground, with temperatures around 0 degrees Celsius. Erdogan's cynical tactics seem to be working. Some film clips on this.
How could a man like Erdogan be given such power?
It was known that Erdogan is brutal in the assertion of his interests. Those who do not acknowledge this should reconsider the events surrounding the attempted coup in 2016. Erdogan's role in this game was to dismantle the opposition. There are quite a few claims that he perpetrated the coup to establish his dictatorship, which is similar to a sultanate.
Because Erdogan treats the refugees as hostages and not as refugees, he is personally responsible. He should be treated as such. Even if the refugees were encouraged to drive to the border, throwing stones and burning woods, as the Greek Mega channel reported. Apparently, according to a video, Turkish military vehicles accompany the refugees' march to the border.
Seventy-three refugees were detained on Saturday and arrested afterwards.
The refugees came from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia. Not from Syria. So far, breakthrough attempts have been prevented.
According to the semi-state Greek news agency ANA-MPA SA, a large group of youths tried a breakthrough in the Kastanies woods, where there are no border security installations, at about2 p.m local time today.
Now Europe is trapped. The policy of appeasement with a cunning dictator like Erdogan was wrong.
There will either be a humanitarian disaster or Erdogan will get his way. The NATO defence case in Syria and billions of euros for his ailing dictatorship-ridden economy. How are the refugees carted to the border between Greece and the EU supposed to protect themselves from cold and hunger in the open countryside? In the case of under-age children, Europe should make an exception for humanitarian reasons. The children should be handed over to the International Red Cross, which can also stay in no-man's-land between Turkey and the EU.
All those who thought that Erdogan was a stroke of luck now see that such a Turkey does not belong in the EU and cannot be a negotiating partner. Nor is it because Erdogan has accepted the calculation of the weakest border, the obvious 212 kilometres of the border.
Moreover, his henchmen in the Aegean are watching boats crossing over to Lesbos.
The bitter thing is that, in the end, Brussels will have to give in so as not to betray its human rights standards.
Koran nightingale
Erdogan has made on his long-announced threat to real and had thousands of refugees transported to the border, allegedly from the embattled area around Idlib in Syria. It is not clear to observers on the ground whether the refugees come from Syria. The Greek border posts are remaining closed.
The Turk Erdogan in Istanbul said: "We have opened the gates", but Erdogan was not interested in what could happen. In his addiction to grandeur, he, who was once called a "Koran nightingale" because of his religious attitude, is trying to blackmail the EU. It is not entirely clear what he wants since Erdogan only stated that the EU had not kept to the refugee deal. Erdogan continues to play his poker game, which he has long lost.
#Evros now : more than 3.000 migrants and refugees hoping to break through Greek block at Kastanies crossing: for those of us who lived it, the nightmare of #Idomeni has revived. Is it too much to ask from @EU_Commission and @Frontex to give Greece a helping hand ? pic.twitter.com/rrb3iGGnZ3
Meanwhile, dramatic scenes take place on the Greek-Turkish border, i.e. on the eastern border of the European Union. After refugees threw stones at border police officers, Greek border guards used tear gas. Independent Turkish media and Greek sources report that about 50,000 people are said to have arrived at the various border crossings. Few were able to cross them and were immediately arrested. This issue was reported by Greek News. There is considerable violence, and the refugees are rioting if they are not allowed to cross the border.
#Evros this morning: hundreds of migrants and refugees remain stuck at Kastanies crossing point Tear gas deterrence by Greek authorities continues when they get too close to police cordon Refugee who shot this video says they are afraid to go back, intend to stay pic.twitter.com/wwL32OIGD1
And "treating them like human beings" obviously includes using them as pawns by @MevlutCavusoglu and his government, boarding them in buses, lying they are free to cross and then busing more to the border https://t.co/RnfNVouEMf
Since the bombing of Idlib, nothing is the same as it once was in the war country Syria. The Sultan by his grace, Erdogan, has played poker and lost. He is personally responsible for the consequences, neither NATO, after which he is downright noisy, nor the EU. Tens of thousands of Syrians are on the run and in his simple-mindedness, Erdogan now, after the death of his soldiers, wants to resort to the NATO alliance case, which would result in a confrontation with Assad's ally, Russia.
Heaps of buses drive from Istanbul to the Macedonian border. There is nothing left of the refugee deal, except the threat potential of Erdogan - that he takes a few more hostages to get a better deal for him.
Erdogan is a cardsharper, a man who has outgrown the power he has seized. He should not, in his almost childish commander's manner, be given a chance to set Europe on fire. Erdogan has waged a war of aggression in Syria. Now he must answer for the consequences. At the Greek-Turkish border, thousands are trying to cross the demarcation line to flee to Europe. Greece reacts with tear gas. Dramatic scenes take place. Therefore, to maintain its internal peace, Europe must close its external borders.
