MINSK, 31 January (BelTA) – Over the past two years, Belarus' national security system was tested for strength like never before, State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Aleksandr Volfovich told BelTA after Aleksandr Lukashenko's annual Address to Belarusian People and the National Assembly.
The state secretary of the Security Council noted that negative and extremely dangerous processes in the region and the world are becoming increasingly pronounced. In fact, tensions are mounting in all spheres of international and regional security. Against this background, we see accelerated militarization of the countries of Eastern Europe. They are using mythical ‘threats from the East' to justify the need to build up a permanent military presence of NATO forces in the adjacent territories.
“The head of state drew attention to the intensification of flights of U.S. strategic bombers near the border of the Union State. “According to our estimates, this means that the NATO air forces are testing a possibility to use cruise missiles, including those with nuclear warheads”, Aleksandr Volfovich emphasized.
He recalled that about 30,000 military personnel have been additionally deployed in Poland and the Baltic countries along the border with Belarus. In addition, more than 10,000 NATO military personnel are stationed in the territory of these states. “Such actions of our neighbors raise reasonable questions about the implementation of the Vienna Document 2011, as well as bilateral agreements on additional confidence and security building measures,” Aleksandr Volfovich said. “We have to admit that the violation of international norms and fundamental rules of good neighborly relations by the neighboring states is already a worrying trend. Dialogue is dropped for new restrictions and sanctions against Belarus.”
“Our country is responding appropriately to these dynamics. In particular, a surprise check of the combat readiness of the rapid response forces of the armed forces of Belarus and Russia is underway as part of strategic containment measures,” the state secretary of the Security Council emphasized.
