Russia apparently plans to gradually annex Belarus.
Alleged plans of Vladimir Putin have now come to light.
Moscow/Minsk/Munich - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are close allies.
There is speculation that Belarus is intervening in the Ukraine war.
But now a secret document from the Moscow presidential administration reveals the actual balance of power.
The frightening thing is that Putin is only using Lukashenko to gradually annex Belarus by 2030.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung
, which evaluated the 17-page leaked paper together with WDR, NDR and nine other media,
reports on the plans of the Russian President .
Whether it actually comes from the Presidential Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation cannot be confirmed with certainty, but several Western secret services consider it
to be authentic, according to
SZ .
Vladimir Putin secretly wants to incorporate Belarus
According to this, Putin's strategists want to infiltrate Belarus, which supports Moscow in the Ukraine war, in three political, economic and military stages with the aim of creating a common "union state" under Russian leadership.
This is intended to act as a bulwark against the western defense alliance NATO.
The document is said to have been created in the summer of 2021, i.e. before Russia invaded Ukraine.
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Does Vladimir Putin (r.) really want to annex Belarus?
© IMAGO/Pavel Bednyakov
Russia wants to determine political, economic and military life in its neighboring country.
Moscow's strategic goal is "to ensure the dominant influence of the Russian Federation in the areas of social policy, trade, economy, science, education and culture".
The constitutional reform passed in Belarus in February last year is to be completed according to Russian conditions, and laws are to be "harmonized" with those of the Russian Federation, the
SZ
continues to report.
Security experts warn: Belarus plan a blueprint
Western intelligence officials say the secret paper is part of Vladimir Putin's plan to create a new Greater Russian Empire.
Experts are alarmed.
"If Putin's plans work out in both Belarus and Ukraine," says Hungary-based Belarusian security expert Anton Bendarjevskiy, "that would send out a clear signal to other former Soviet republics as well."
"The Belarus plan is a blueprint that can also be applied to Kazakhstan, Armenia and Moldova," warns Franak Viacorka, chief adviser to exiled Belarusian opposition politician Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
In Moldova, for example, pro-Russian protests have already broken out.
(mt)
List of rubrics: © IMAGO/Pavel Bednyakov