A member of the US-led NATO military alliance, the Polish military has said Newsweek He observed that a nearby border exercise was being held by nearby Russia and Belarus as part of an effort to rule domestic unrest by blaming actors such as Poland.
The annual Slavic Brotherhood exercise, which begins on Thursday near the Belarusian city of Brest, comes at a time of turmoil for the Eastern European country, whose leader, 26-year-old President Alexander Lukashenko, has been facing constant protests over allegations of rigging in his last election last month. In his favor. NATO Baltic states, especially Antonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland, have all come under fire, all of which have blamed Lukashenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for sponsoring the protests.
Russian troops are now fighting elections on Belarus’s already militarized border, the Ministry of National Defense has said. Newsweek It “observes military exercises carried out around Polish borders” and is characteristic of the nature of this particular set of maneuvers.
“Given the annual character of the Slack Brotherhood exercise as well as the current political situation in Belarus, MO&D assesses that anti-Polish statements by officials of some of the nations participating in the exercise are primarily motivated by their internal propaganda needs,” the ministry added.
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The latest exercises come after weeks of Belarusian combat training and a series of large-scale exercises near Grodno, also on the Polish border. Lukashenko has been preparing for an invasion of Warsaw and allied NATO powers and accused the Polish armed forces of supporting anti-government elements in a rejected rhetoric.
“Unfortunately, the Belarusian government is probably holding Western-led protests aimed at maintaining control over the internal situation.” “We do not find any evidence for such an argument and military action by the Belarusian regime in this regard.”
Belarusian Ministry of Defense
But EU states have raised real criticism of Lukashenko’s administration and have also held opposition figures and called for new elections. The effects of this pressure campaign were also evident in the Slavic Brotherhood.
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This year’s joint exercise was initially scheduled to take place in its traditional tripartite format involving employees from Belarus, Russia and Serbia but later dropped out at the last minute. The Serbian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday it would not take part and would not suspend all military exercises for the next six months, citing “terrible and unwarranted pressure from the European Union”.
Moscow abruptly canceled, which came at a time of strained relations with Belgrade, especially a close partner of the Balkans.
“We respect the decision of the Serbian authorities,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, according to the state-run TAS Russian news agency.
“It is just a fact that Serbia has decided to suspend all military exercises for six months, let alone Russia or any other country,” Peskov said.
Even in the absence of Serbia, Russia has pledged its support to Belarus in its opposition to the coup in which both powers saw Western influence, with the United States as its head. Russian Senator Andrei Klemov reiterated the issue in a comment to reporters on Thursday.
“The adoption of a constitutional amendment that legally strengthened Russia’s sovereignty has not stopped Washington and its foreign partners from trying to interfere in our domestic affairs,” Klimov said, according to Klamov.
He claimed that the foreign plan to disrupt the Belarusian elections was “implemented by intelligence agencies and politicians from Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states.” Russia, on the other hand, aims to create political tensions in the region ahead of the September 13 regional elections.
Lukashenko also argued that there was an attempt to create a pro-western corridor from the Baltics to the Black Sea, where the 2014 uprising established government sympathy for NATO and the EU. Both multinational groups accuse Russia of illegally annexing the Crimean peninsula and supporting Eastern rebels in maintaining its interests in Ukraine.
Putin has announced the formation of a special law enforcement unit to be deployed in Belarus if the situation is to turn violent and destructive. He and other Russian officials have said no such action is needed.
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U.S. officials said Newsweek Last month that Moscow could use the instability in Belarus to establish a more stable security presence in its union state ally. Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have previously expressed concern Newsweek About Russia’s role in Belarus, Belarus’s own military activities at Grodno and the ongoing crackdown on opposition figures.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday expressed “concern” over the detention of opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova and her colleagues, warning of possible sanctions if the government does not respect the rights of Belarusian citizens.
Pentagon representatives met with Belarus’ top brass on Thursday as the U.S. stepped up its military activities by conducting back-to-back exercises in Estonia and Lithuania.
“During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on the military-political situation around the Republic of Belarus,” the Belarusian Defense Ministry read. The Belarussian state also expressed its displeasure at the inadequacy of foreign intervention in internal affairs. “
On the same day, Lukashenko met with Dmitry Mezentsev, Russia’s ambassador to Belarus.
At the meeting, the Belarusian leader promised to unify relations between the two countries and, as a delayed birthday gift, he presented the diplomat in 1866 with a topographical map of the regions of Vitebsk, Grodno, Minsk and Mogilev in Belarus.
Lukashenko said that this is another confirmation of Belarus’s borders and also a response for those who see it differently.
