Invasion has caused ‘seismic changes in Europe’

Washington - The number of nations embroiled in armed conflicts has doubled in the past 10 years, with Ukraine the latest victim, creating a flood of refugees, World Bank president David Malpass said Monday.

"There are no words to express the horror of the Ukrainian people," Malpass said, who highlighted the broader economic consequences of these trends.

The World Bank tally shows 23 countries - with a combined population of 850 million people - "currently face high- or medium-intensity conflict."

"The recent trends are disheartening and tragic," he said at a forum, lamenting that in the past two years "fragility, conflict-related fatalities, and social unrest have increased dramatically" which has "triggered massive refugee flows."

Those conflicts threaten efforts to end extreme poverty, and more than 300 million people faced "acute food insecurity in 2021" in those countries.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine last month caused "seismic changes in Europe" and has caused "the largest refugee flow in Europe since WW2," Malpass said.

And he warned, "It will have a massive impact on energy, grain markets and food insecurity" which will have "serious negative consequences in developing countries." – Nampa/AFP