Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was dispatching 100 Australian Federal Police, some of them armed, and members of Australia’s military, to help recover bodies and evidence from Flight MH17 which crashed on July 17 near Donetsk. ― File pic

BERLIN, July 26 ― Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s plan to deploy armed police officers to the site of the Malaysian Air crash risks increasing tension in the Ukrainian territory held by Russian-backed rebels, according to political analysts based in Berlin and Brussels.

Abbott said yesterday he was dispatching 100 Australian Federal Police, some of them armed, and members of Australia’s military, to help recover bodies and evidence from Flight MH17 which crashed on July 17 near Donetsk in the east of the country killing 298 passengers and crew. Abbott said Australia wants to bring home its dead.

“They must be nuts,” Joerg Forbrig, senior program officer for central and eastern Europe at the Berlin bureau of the German Marshall Fund of the US, said in a phone interview. “It’s a very dangerous proposal and will be seen as a provocation by the separatists and the Russians.”

Ukrainians’ desire for closer links with Europe, the US and their allies has long been a source of tension with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who intervened in Ukraine after pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych stepped down in February, fueling the five-month insurgency. Russia accused the US of fomenting the uprising that led to Yanukovych’s ouster.

Xephora Sarah Azzahra looks at an undated picture of her grandmother Puan Sri Siti Amirah (centre), who was killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine, in Putrajaya July 20, 2014. — Reuters pic The remains of a pet cage found at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 is pictured near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. — Reuters pic A woman displays a message for families and victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which was downed last Thursday over eastern Ukraine, inside a shopping mall in Petaling Jaya near Kuala Lumpur July 21, 2014. — Reuters pic Former housemate and fellow university student Khairil Ighwan, 21, attends a special prayer for his friend Mohammed Afif Tambi, who was killed with his family when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, in Kuala Lumpur July 21, 2014. — Reuters pic Student Nadine Nasharuddin, 19, holds a picture of her friend and fellow student Mohammed Afif Tambi, who was killed with his family when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, in Kuala Lumpur July 21, 2014. — Reuters pic Lecturer Normah Sulaiman speaks to members of the media after a special prayer for her student Mohammed Afif Tambi, who was killed with his family when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, in Kuala Lumpur July 21, 2014. — Reuters pic Relatives of the three Filipino victims onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 speak to the media after applying for passports to travel to the Netherlands at the Foreign Affairs Department in Manila July 21, 2014. — Reuters pic A Ukrainian coal miner takes part in a search operation at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Rozspyne, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. — Reuters pic Ukrainian coal miners search the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. U.S. — Reuters pic A crane moves wreckage at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. — Reuters pic Members of the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry, medical personnel and a crane operator work at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. — Reuters pic A part of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 is pictured at its crash site, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic Belongings found at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 are pictured near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic Members of the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry work at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic Delegates observe a minute's silence during the opening session, as a tribute to colleagues killed in the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, at the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic A member of the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry walks past wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove, in the Donetsk region July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic A part of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 is seen at its crash site, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic Ukrainian coal miners search the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, near the village of Hrabove, Donetsk region, July 20, 2014. ― Reuters pic Mementos placed by local residents at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 are pictured near the settlement of Rozspyne in the Donetsk region July 19, 2014. ― Reuters pic Previous Next

Spokesmen at the Russian Defense and Foreign Ministries weren’t available when contacted by Bloomberg.

Unarmed Dutch

A surface-to-air missile fired from territory held by the rebels shot down the plane, the US said, stopping short of alleging direct Russian involvement. Putin’s artillery is firing on Ukrainian military positions from inside Russia, a US State Department spokeswoman said this week.

The Netherlands will decide this weekend on whether to send an unarmed police mission to help secure the crash site, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told parliament yesterday. Abbott stressed yesterday that many of the Australian police officers won’t be armed and it is close to finalizing an agreement with Ukraine for the deployment to go ahead. The operation, which is part of an international mission that doesn’t include the US, is expected to last no longer than a few weeks, Abbott said.

“Of course, I myself have moments when I think: send in the marines,” Rutte told parliament in The Hague yesterday. “But we have to weigh the geopolitical ramifications that would have. This is not an area where this would remain without consequences. So we have to build coalitions with all players involved very carefully.”

The Netherlands is sending a separate mission of 40 unarmed military police to the site to help complete the forensic work and gather evidence, Rutte said this week. The UK has sent one forensics specialist to Kiev and nine British scientists are working in the Netherlands to help identify bodies and secure evidence.

The UK is ready to offer logistical support and is keeping in close contact with the Australians and Dutch over how it can assist, though it won’t be sending police or technicians to Ukraine, the Foreign Office said.

Ukraine agrees

“We believe a UK armed presence in eastern Ukraine would not be appropriate,” the Foreign Office said in an e-mailed statement. “The UK stands ready to provide constructive support to the mission.”

The Netherlands, Australia and Ukraine are considering proposing a United Nations resolution for an armed mission to secure the crash site, Dutch news agency ANP reported yesterday, citing diplomatic officials familiar with the matter that it didn’t identify. Australia, a Security Council member, will submit the resolution if officials at the site can’t perform duties in the next few days, it reported.

Australia earlier dispatched 90 police to help with the crash probe. The reinforcements will first fly to the Netherlands. There were 194 Dutch nationals and 27 Australians on MH17.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko this week signed an accord under which the Netherlands will lead the international probe into the crash. The Foreign Ministry in Kiev said a separate agreement was signed yesterday for an “Australian mission of civil police” to help protect the mission. There was no mention from either Poroshenko or the Foreign Ministry on whether the Australians would be armed.

Drunk rebels

Dmitry Gau, the spokesman for rebels, wouldn’t immediately comment on the Australian plans to carry firearms, when contacted by Bloomberg News.

Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels, warned against sending armed teams into eastern Ukraine to search for victims.

“There’s nothing normal in east Ukraine right now,” Erixon said in a phone interview. “Small events can trigger very large reactions from the rebels and the Russian government.”

Karl-Heinz Kamp, academic director at the German government’s Federal Academy for Security Policy in Berlin, said the Australian military is experienced and wouldn’t take risks, especially in a situation “where some of the rebels are drunk.”

“The only way the Australians are going to send armed officers into rebel territory is if there’s some kind of back- room deal,” Kamp said by phone. “It’s totally far-fetched but if it’s true, maybe the Russians are under such pressure to do something they told the rebels ‘you have to accept this.’” ― Bloomberg