South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s security personnel and a press group en route to Ukraine were not allowed to disembark at Warsaw Chopin Airport in Poland on Friday, official sources said.
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The Presidential Protection Services and South African journalists were to accompany President Ramaphosa to Ukraine and then to Russia as part of the seven-nation African peace mission in addition to South Africa: Comoros, Zambia, Senegal, Egypt, Congo, and Uganda.
Polish authorities prevented the South African delegation from leaving the plane on the grounds that the president’s security personnel do not have the correct permits to bring weapons into the country.
According to Pieter du Toit, a journalist on the plane, the Polish authorities finally allowed the delegation to leave the plane after more than 24 hours on the tarmac in Warsaw.
The delegation, consisting of more than 100 security personnel and some 20 journalists, arrived early Thursday morning at the Polish airport.
We’ve disembarked, after another haranguing by Polish authorities. A South African SAPS official, clearly frustrated after 26 hours holed up in the plane, telling the Poles: “Just because we’re from Africa doesn’t mean you can disrespect us.” We’re going to the terminal. @News24 pic.twitter.com/6xMiD8PVgh
— Pieter Du Toit (@PieterDuToit)
June 16, 2023
Major General Wally Rhoode, Ramaphosa’s security chief, denounced the Polish government’s act as racism and sabotage against the president’s security, preventing him from entering Kiev with proper security protection.
Presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya has said that the South African president’s security “has not been compromised.” Ramaphosa has arrived at the Nemishaeve train station in Ukraine, the country’s presidency said.
The president, along with other leaders from the African continent, is scheduled to meet with his counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss peace in the ongoing conflict with Russia. On June 17, South African leaders will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin within the framework of the 26th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The European Union has said that it will not support the African peace plan in Ukraine if it involves freezing the conflict.
