Ylva Johannson: Putin wants to destroy the European Union, we must make sure he doesn't

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johannson on Wednesday (October 5) participated in Warsaw Security Forum, an annual conference on security issues. She took part in a discussion on the internal safety of the European Union in the light of Russian invasion into Ukraine.

"We have recognise that the big threat is Putin - this is the biggest threat towards us. Of course now he is invading Ukraine, he wants to destroy Ukraine totally, he wants to destroy the Ukrainians, but he is also destroying the international, global order," Johansson said.

"And he wants to destroy the European Union - we should not be naive. This is actually his goal. So, that is the biggest threat and the most important thing we need to do in the European Union is to make sure that he will not win. So we have to be united, we have to be very strong, and we have to make sure that he will not win," the EU Commissioner added.

"He's using energy as a weapon, he's trying to divide us, he's trying to put false narrative and propaganda on what causes this energy crisis," she underscored.

"But then, of course, we also have to deal with other things, like (for example - edit.) we have more than four million Ukrainian refugeest - hey are not a threat towards the internal security, but of course it's a challenge. We have to deal with infrastructure, the critical infrastructure, and I think we all think about right now after the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines. We need to be much more resilient, be much more aware of the huge risk the critical infrastructure is posing on us. So, we need to do more," Johannson said.

The Commisioner added that "the war is, of course, a catastrophe for citizens, but it's an opportunity for criminals". "We will see organised criminal groups using this opportunity (by - edit.) trafficking weapons, trafficking people, trying to lure women and children, the refugees, into trafficking, using them for sexual purposes or other purposes. They would try to traffic drugs, we will have stay very vigilant on this topic," she urged.

"And the last thing I will say is this is really an area where we need also to better protect our external borders. This is, of course, something we are already doing, but staying vigilant on how to protect our external borders is also important," Ylva Johannson stressed.