Russia’s intervention in Ukraine is a big concern for Poles who fear Moscow might be planning an invasion of their country. This has reportedly resulted in increasing numbers of Poles joining volunteer paramilitary groups that provide basic military training. Up to now, the Polish government has ignored unofficial militias. Now it is reportedly seeking a way to harness the 120 volunteer groups that boast a membership of 10,000. Some 800 members of paramilitary groups gathered in Warsaw on March 20 to attend a meeting hosted by the defence ministry. Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak announced the government’s decision to pay the wages of 2,500 people who would form the backbone of local volunteer units to be mobilised in the event of a war. In an interview with Reuters, the Polish President's chief security adviser, General Stanislaw Koziej, said the new approach had been prompted by the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine, where Russia is accused of fighting alongside pro-Moscow separatists.

Churches have opened their doors in the wake of Tuesday's Germanwings Airbus crash in the French Alps, which killed all 150 people on board. Sixteen of those who died were teenagers on a Spanish exchange programme from Joseph-Koenig school in Germany. Two of their teachers were also on the plane. The local Catholic Church in Haltern, St Sixtus, was reportedly open all night for mourners. Hundreds of people visited the church after the news broke yesterday to light candles and write messages of condolence to the families of those who died. At the school just 1.5km away, residents covered the entrance with flowers and red and white candles. Deputy Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Sylvia Loehrmann, told reporters on Wednesday: ‘We can only share that pain and maybe some comfort can grow from that sharing. All of Germany is mourning with us and the whole world is sending us messages.’ At least three Britons were also killed.

Part of a statement released at the 28th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the 13 March said, ’The Middle East is living in a situation of instability and conflict. The consequences are disastrous for the entire population of the region. The existence of many religious communities is seriously threatened. Christians are now especially affected. These days even their survival is in question. Efforts to build a better future for all are frustrated. We witness a situation where violence, religious and ethnic hatred, fundamentalist radicalism, extremism, intolerance, exclusion, destruction of the social fabric of whole societies and communities are becoming the features of a non-viable political and social model, endangering the very existence of many communities, the Christian community in particular. We are confident that, all civic and religious leaders in the Middle East, will join us in addressing this alarming situation by building together a culture of peaceful coexistence. In our globalised world, pluralism is an enrichment.