Analysis

Europe Likely to See 'Devastating Migration Crisis' After Grain Deal Suspension

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - Europe, which will be flooded with migrants from low-income countries that rely on grain exports from Ukraine and Russia, will suffer the most from the suspension of the grain deal, international experts told Sputnik on Wednesday.
Sputnik
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s participation in the grain deal had been terminated with immediate effect, although it would return to it if commitments toward Moscow were fulfilled.
"Europe may soon experience a devastating migration crisis following Russia's decision to leave the deal. The biggest victim of higher grain prices and shortages in the developing countries will be the European Union," Yusuf Alabarda, a Turkish political expert and a representative of the M5 Strategy Journal, told Sputnik.
"We know very well that Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and a couple of other African countries are mainly dependent on Ukrainian and Russian grain imports. Europe will be overwhelmed by migrants fleeing hunger."
Eugen Schmidt of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, in commentary for Sputnik, also predicted a dire impact of the deal’s suspension for the European Union.
"Unfortunately, Western countries are deliberately provoking hunger in regions dependent on Ukrainian and Russian grain supplies, which will inevitably incite huge hungry masses to storm European borders," Schmidt said.
"It is unlikely that the ruling political elites of the EU do not understand what the failure of the grain deal threatens them with, but apparently they do not care at all about the impending hunger and the further flooding of Europe with migrants."
The German lawmaker added that today Europe, and especially Germany, is not independent in its foreign policy and acts only in the interests of "external forces, which has an extremely negative effect on the state of affairs in Germany itself."
As several key European nations, including Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria, have already called on Russia to restore its participation in the grain initiative, the expert called on them to take responsibility on their behalf for the suspension of the agreement as Russia’s concerns have not been met.
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The Turkish political expert also expressed the opinion that sooner or later the European states would be forced to sit down at the negotiating table with Russia regarding its participation in the agreement, predicting that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would play an important role in its renewal.
"Probably Mr. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and Mr. Erdogan will find a way to make it work again in the future, because Europe will be very interested, and Russia is also interested in continuing its grain exports through the corridor," he said.
"Mr. Erdogan, from my point of view, will push Europe, will show them that the promises made to Russia should be fulfilled first and foremost by the Europeans."
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