The ambassador who helped almost 800 Peruvians and Ecuadorians escape the war in Ukraine

For the North Russiasouth Ukraine and in the middle of both belarus. So are the borders to the east of Polandthe country that acts as the border between Western and Eastern Europe, and whose position inevitably leaves them in the midst of the current war that is taking place in the Old Continent.

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Since the beginning of the conflict, Warsaw has shown its determination to support Kiev in resisting the invasion. Either out of solidarity, respect for their treaties or a latent historical scar from knowing what it is like to be invaded by a larger nation led by a leader with expansionist dreams.

And also know the consequences of it.

The truth is that the Polish Government has been at the forefront of both the humanitarian and financial and military aid that the European bloc has allocated to Ukraine.

And from Lima, its ambassador, Magdalena Śniadecka-Kotarska, contributed first-hand with help to those seeking to escape the terror of war.

—The first year of war in the Ukraine left almost 10 million refugees crossing into Poland…

That’s right, 9 million 800 thousand refugees passed through when the first year was over, on February 24. But the alarming thing was that only in the first weeks two million of them arrived. Never, in the history of humanity, has there been an exodus of these dimensions in such a short time. To give you an idea, it took a year and a half in Peru for a million and a half Venezuelans to arrive. Two and a half million Ukrainians currently live in Poland, the majority are women with children and the elderly. This shows that Poland gave its help from the first day, we opened the border for the first train of women and children.

—One more example that a war not only affects two sides…

That’s how it is. That is why I reject when there are people who say that this is a problem in Eastern Europe. No, this is a problem for everyone. And that is not the fault of the Ukrainians but of the Russian aggressors, it is a war against freedom, against an independent government and against the modern world. From the first day of the war, international agreements were broken, an unimaginable situation in a modern world.

Hasn’t this war shown the weakness of international agreements and global organizations?

No, it is not a global institutional crisis. They are elements of Russian blackmail. And Poland warned it a long time ago, but the world did not want to listen, everyone thought that democracy, changes and international collaboration with Moscow could be negotiated at the table. We see that this was false.

—Once again in history the world did not listen to Poland…

It is very sad. Three years ago they said that we Poles do not understand that the European-Russian gas pipeline was good, that it helped in collaboration with Moscow. But they didn’t understand that this didn’t start a year ago but much earlier.

On February 24, 2023, the first year of the war in Ukraine, 9 million 800 thousand refugees from that country crossed into Poland. Two and a half million of them stayed living there. (WOJTEK RADWANSKI / AFP /)

“And when did it start?”

We Poles know very well what is the dependence of Russia in tsarist and Soviet times. We know what it is to fight for freedom. After World War II, Poland entered Soviet-influenced territory as a result of the Yalta Treaty. However, we were not as dependent on the Soviet Union as Georgia or Ukraine were at the time. By the 1990s, the former Soviet nations had achieved their independence. What started a year ago is just a new stage in a crisis of values.

—In 2008 the Russians invaded Georgia, how much did everything change in the region after that?

In 2008, the first proof of Russian annexation with Georgia took place. There, our former president Lech Kaczyński, who passed away two years later, reacted very quickly and warned that we could not allow such an annexation because later they could threaten Lithuania or Poland. Even then it was thought that the Russians would not. Until in 2014 they annexed Crimea.

—What do you think of the international reaction to said annexation?

I would say that the world did not allow it but it did not do anything against it so that it does not occur. Once the Russians saw that they were able to annex a piece of the Ukraine, that desire to return to the days of the Soviet Union resurfaced.

—Several leaders have pointed out that the only option for the future of Europe is for Ukraine to win the war, what would happen if Russia wins?

Poland reacted from day one because we understood how dangerous this kind of blackmail policy is. From our history, from having lived 40 years under the Soviet bloc, we knew better their lies that they seek to sustain under discourses of human, population and children’s rights. I know that in Latin America some politicians have idealized the left, but they have to think that we know the reality of communism, both in theory and in practice. We know the liars and fakers. I was born when the country was socialist, so I know what I’m talking about. More than 70 years ago -during World War II- some 200 thousand people were forced to go to Siberia, only a few returned alive. The children were Russified. Now, during the first months of this war, we saw more than 14,000 Ukrainian children sent to the east of the country, taking them away from their families. It is a horrible trauma that must be studied in depth.

Does Poland feel threatened? Do you think they could be invaded by Russia?

No, from the first day we trust in human rights and international conventions.

—You yourself helped a group of people to escape from the war in Ukraine…

Yes, they were Peruvian and Ecuadorian. During the first days of the war I came into contact with Polish missionaries who had been in Ecuador and Peru, and had gone to the Ukrainian border to help the Spanish-speaking refugees.

“Why did they contact you?”

Because I was in contact with those missionaries and also with scientists from universities, such as the Catholic University of Lublin. On the other hand, I am also accredited as an ambassador for Ecuador. I remember that when the war broke out there was a group of Ecuadorian university students who had been in Ukraine for a short time and had problems contacting their embassy in Berlin. I started helping them cross into Poland.

“How long was he like this?”

For two weeks, at least. They started sharing my phone and WhatsApp with each other. But it was amazing to see how the Poles not only opened their borders but also their hearts. For example, a group of volunteers left baby strollers and care packages on the refugee trail so that mothers crossing with their children could use them. In all this time, moreover, Poland has not opened a single camp for migrants. It is a world example. The refugees were relocated to private homes, schools, theaters or even women’s monasteries that are generally closed.

Ambassador Śniadecka-Kotarska points out that Poland did not open any refugee camps to receive the Ukrainians, but integrated them into society thanks to the help of volunteers. (DAMIEN SIMONART / AFP /)

—You mentioned a group of Ecuadorian students, but how many did you help in total during those two weeks?

In general there were 700 Ecuadorian students and 70 Peruvians. I don’t know how many I have helped. Some were so tired or carried such a trauma that they did not understand that they had already crossed the border into Poland and even tried to cross into the Ukraine thinking they were escaping from there.

—And from a personal point of view, how were those two weeks listening to so many tragedies?

Quite difficult. She couldn’t sleep because she wanted to help everyone she could. Now that I remember it, it seems like a movie, but I won’t forget it until the end of my life. Now I feel happy to have been able to help so many people and to have contacted so many people who provided so much help.

Source: Elcomercio