As of: April 2, 2024, 6:41 p.m
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The situation on NATO's eastern border with Belarus is tense. And ruler Lukashenko is not helping to calm things down with contradictory statements.
Grodno - The authoritarian Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko emphasized his country's peacefulness during a visit to the border town of Grodno in the border triangle with Poland and Lithuania. “We don’t have to threaten anyone. We don’t want foreign territory,” he said, according to his presidential office on Tuesday (April 2). “Don’t believe anyone that we want to fight!” Lukashenko asked those present at the laying of the foundation stone for a hospital.
Alexander Lukashenko: the President of Belarus at a meeting in St. Petersburg on December 25, 2023 © Pavel Bednyakov/Imago
Lukashenko emphasizes peace and at the same time threatens Poland and Lithuania with contradictory statements
At the same time, he said: “We are preparing for war, I say that openly.” Belarus is equipping its armed forces in the event that it is attacked. NATO and EU members Poland and Lithuania appeared to be preparing for war by building trenches and anti-tank barriers and purchasing offensive weapons, he said. Lukashenko told the residents of Grodno, which was Polish between the two world wars: “You belong to us. We will not give you up to anyone.”
Lukashenko is a close loyalist of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has also made Belarus available as a staging area for his war of aggression against Ukraine. Like Putin, Lukashenko also sees his country in a permanent conflict with the West.
At the opposite end of Belarus near Gomel on the border with Russia and Ukraine, Homeland Security began a three-day maneuver on Tuesday (April 2). The Ministry of Defense in Minsk announced that the officers' readiness for action should be tested. The recruitment of volunteers for homeland defense in times of war should also be practiced.
(dpa)