Major General: leadership of Poland and Baltic States implementing aggressive and hostile narratives in all spheres

Unfortunately, the political leadership of Belarus’ neighbouring states stubbornly avoids sound steps, continuing to implement openly aggressive and hostile narratives in all areas – as stated by Major General Valery Revenko, the Chief of the International Military Co-operation Department, Assistant to the Defence Minister for International Military Co-operation, at a briefing for representatives of foreign military diplomatic corps from 24 countries accredited to Belarus’ Defence Ministry

The annual briefing discussed topical issues of military policy, the construction and development of the Armed Forces of Belarus, the specifics of operational and combat training, measures related to the technical re-equipment of troops, the development of the military education system, and international military co-operation.

"The neighbouring countries – Poland and the Baltic States – are striving to increase the combat potential of their national armed forces as quickly as possible," Mr. Revenko said. “The Polish military budget has already reached a record level among the European countries of the alliance: more than 4 percent of GDP; it is expected to reach 5 percent in the near future. At the same time, plans are being implemented to increase the number of armed forces to 300,000 people. In the eastern and north-eastern regions of the country, directly at our borders, the creation of three combat divisions continues. Strike weapons are being supplied to the Polish army.”

Mr. Revenko added that the Baltic States are focusing their main efforts on improving their military infrastructure in the interests of deploying troops from NATO allies, “Defence spending is growing, the combat and numerical strength of the national armed forces is increasing, and they are being intensively re-equipped with modern military equipment. Active preparations are underway in Latvia and Lithuania for the deployment of brigade-level formations of the Canadian and German armed forces. We view all the ongoing large-scale processes of militarisation of the region as a potential external military danger that, under certain conditions, can lead to a military conflict.”

At the same time, as a follow-up to the Vienna Document, Belarus previously concluded bilateral agreements with Poland and the Baltic States, which provided for holding working meetings on regional security issues, additional exchange of military information and mutual inspection activities. Mr. Revenko explained, “Using these mechanisms in the current conditions and taking into account the lack of alternatives would help restore trust and security in the region, which is absolutely in the interests of our peoples. Unfortunately, the political leadership of the neighbouring states stubbornly avoids these obvious and sensible steps, continuing to implement openly aggressive and hostile narratives in all areas. For example, against the background of Belarus' introduction of a visa-free regime for EU citizens, Poland and the Baltic States are purposefully escalating the situation, creating numerous restrictions on the entry of Belarusian citizens into their territories, complicating visa procedures, and closing international checkpoints on the common border.”