Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday, the 25th of April, that internal and external threats are forcing him to change the security stance and allow Russia to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on its territory, claiming that the Belarusian opposition, with NATO support, is planning to seize territory to its West, which the opposition rejects, reports Reuters.
Lukashenko was speaking at a meeting of the Belarus People’s Congress, a constitutional body of up to 1 200 delegates, which was due to approve an updated Belarusian national security concept and military doctrine.
During the meeting, Ivan Tertel, head of the Belarusian KGB, claimed that operatives under his command had prevented drone strikes on Minsk from Lithuania, an accusation denied by Lithuania. He also mentioned that measures were being taken to prevent
the smuggling of weapons from Ukraine “for terrorist attacks and sabotage”.
Lukashenko, who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, often stresses the alleged threat from NATO or Ukraine in order to justify closer military ties with Russia and to maintain a permanent state of high alert in defence and security operations.
According to Reuters, citing the state news agency, Lukashenko said that the current circumstances required a change in Belarus’ security posture,
including a focus on nuclear deterrence.
He also warned that those who would push for conflict should rationally consider the consequences of provocative actions.
In addition, the Russian news agency TASS has reported that Lukashenko has announced that, following an agreement with Putin last year, “several dozen” Russian tactical nuclear weapons have been deployed in Belarus, the first such deployment since Soviet times.
The Belarusian opposition, most of which is in prison or in exile, rejected Lukashenko’s claim that it was seeking to seize territory in the west.
Franak Vyachorka, a senior aide to exiled leader Sviatlana Tsyhanouska, suggested that Lukashenko’s remarks showed his detachment from reality,
saying that his remarks should be commented on by a psychotherapist.
“This congress is a desperate attempt to somehow restore confidence in himself both internally and to show the outside world that he still has supporters. Of course, the easiest way to strengthen his supporters is to create a sense of an external enemy,” he told Reuters.
Lukashenko told the congress that the military risk on his country’s border with Ukraine was quite high.
Although he assured that Poland should not expect aggression, he revealed that combat-ready battalions would be moved from eastern Belarus to the west.
Polish Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk, reacting to Tertel’s claim that Belarus had intercepted drone strikes from Lithuania, warned against succumbing to Belarusian and Russian propaganda.
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