European Commissioner Ylva Johansson has outlined the European Union’s plan to stop the flow of arms from the Ukrainian conflict from ending up in the hands of criminals in member states.
Johansson, whops serves as EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, said the EU was better prepared to combat illegal arms trafficking than in previous years when weapons had been smuggled out of the former Yugoslav states and ended up in the hands of criminals across the continent.
According to Johansson the risk of weapons coming into the EU is high and said, “At the moment, the weapons are being used to defend themselves against the Russian invasion. But one day this war will be over and we have learned that weapons can be lost long after a war has ended,” Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.
Miliary-grade weaponry including U.S. hardware in Ukraine is allegedly being sold on to international buyers via the messaging app Telegram. https://t.co/1TiV4gMCKl
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 15, 2022
According to Johansson, the EU has already set up a “security hub” in Moldova, which borders Ukraine, in order to tackle possible weapons smuggling through the country and is staffed with members of the European police agency Europol and the border agency Frontex.
“Moldova has a long border with Ukraine, much of which is controlled by the Russians through Transnistria. It is important that we are there and strengthen together with Moldova,” Johanssen said.
“I think we have a pretty good chance of getting a different development than we had after the wars in the former Yugoslavia. We have completely different muscles today,” she added.
Concerns over arms being smuggled from the Ukraine conflict into the European Union have been raised for months, with a report from May claiming that weapons were already being sold on encrypted messaging apps but it was not clear whether it was Ukrainian or Russian nationals selling the weapons.
Among the weapons allegedly on offer were Soviet-era AK-47 rifles, American-made rifles such as the M4 and the M16 as well as weapons originating from other NATO countries.
Swedish police have expressed concern that weapons being used in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia may make their way to Sweden where they could fall into the hands of criminal gangs. https://t.co/za4R7J4VPW
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 7, 2022
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.
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