The grounding of a plane belonging to the South African airline SAA on the runway at Warsaw airport could lead to a diplomatic crisis with Poland. The plane, which was carrying officials, journalists, and containers of weapons, continues to cause heated controversy in South Africa.
The South African delegation was accompanying President Cyril Ramaphosa, who stopped off in Warsaw to take part in an African peace mission aimed at convincing Ukraine and Russia to put an end to the conflict.
What was supposed to be a peace mission to ease tensions between Russia and Ukraine turned into a diplomatic spat between South African officials and their Polish counterparts.
The African delegation included leaders from South Africa, Zambia, and Senegal, as well as High Representatives from the Comoros, Uganda, and Egypt.
During this mission, the Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema, was accompanied by a total of 24 officials, including a dozen security agents, the Senegalese President, Macky Sall, probably had around the same number of security agents, while the Comorian President, Azali Assoumani, was accompanied by just two security agents and four other officials.
Thanks to these small security contingents, these three heads of state participating in the African peace mission were able to travel with their guards to Kyiv to meet the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, last Friday, and to St Petersburg to meet the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, on Saturday.
As for President Ramaphosa, with a huge security detachment of around 120, plus around 12 containers of weapons, he couldn’t take them to either Kyiv or St Petersburg, because the whole lot of them made too much noise en route.
The Polish authorities stopped the plane at Warsaw airport and threatened to confiscate the weapons and equipment on board. They also refused to let the guards and journalists off the plane, according to the South African delegation, which points out that a female protection officer with a diplomatic passport, who was part of the security team, was strip-searched before she could board the plane and negotiate the release of the passengers and cargo.