Hello again from London UK

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

Hello again  from London UK

I hope you are all keeping safe and well. I am coping ok, but have to confess I am concerned about the Ukranian refugee crisis as a result of Russia's invasion of their country. It is great news that Europe is opening its arms to welcome them, but politicians  are saying  little or nothing about the numbers of Covid-19 cases in Ukraine being high as recently as late February 2022.

Welcome and help the refugees, of course, but at a time when Covid precautions are being relaxed in parts of Europe, especially in the UK, it is my view that basic precautions against the coronavirus need to be maintained - e.g. wearing face masks in shops, crowded areas and on public transport.

It would place awful stress on everyone if there were to be a resurgence of the pandemic across Europe, but a tragic irony, especially, for any refugees who had survived the horrors of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, only to be struck down with the coronavirus just when they thought they had found a safe haven.

Hopefully, our politicians have allowed for a potential rise in Covid-19 cases even as some leaders- especially president Macron of France, have been openly critical of the UK Government for not doing enough help and house the refugees.  I suspect , though, this has more to do with the UK voting to leave the EU than concern for the refugees themselves. 

The EU continues to nurse the vision of a United States of Europe, which is precisely why many of us in the UK - including yours truly - have no regrets about voting for Brexit. Democracy involves a fair degree of responsible autonomy and  the latter was being slowly but surely coerced by the powers that be who govern the EU. This is, of course, only my personal point of view, but I also have friends in EU countries who share it; they, like myself, were all in favour of the EEC (European Economic Community); it made economic sense. However, it proceeded to expand into the EU with ordinary folks having neither vote nor say in the matter.

Divisions and rivalries between EU leaders are, of course, the least of the world's concerns as Russian forces close in on the Ukraine capital, Kyiv. At the same time, an attack on an artillery base close to its border with Poland, brings the war worryingly close to NATO's doorstep, a matter of deep concern for  many Poles.

As a gay man, I have to say that any LGBT folks among the refugees who have not been made as welcome under Zelenskyy's presidency - as some of his more supportive earlier comments had led them to hope for and expect - will not have an easier time in Poland; although support for LGBT rights continues to grow there, so, too does local opposition.  Poland, of course, has been a member of the European Union  since 2004; attitudes towards LGBG across the European Union , as a whole, remain widely diverse. 

As for those readers who email me from time to time to ask why a gay poet is writing up "not only a straight but secular blog...", I can but put it to them that no one's 'alternative' sexuality means they are any less of  a person in their own right, as free to express opinions on all matters, as anyone else. As regular readers well know, I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with me, respecting as I do., that basic human right of agreeing to differ.

Time to close now and get ready to meet up with my best friend for lunch. Many thanks for joining me, dear readers, and I'll be back with a poem later this week.

Take care, stay safe and keep well,

Hugs

Roger

[Note: If you email me (rogertab@aol.com) please be sure to put 'Poetry' in the subject field or it will not be read. Similarly, any 'spam' will be ignored. I read all emails and try to reply asap, but please remember I am in my late 70's and  having to contend with serious health issues, so there may well be long delays.] RT