Due to the policy of NATO countries, Belarus is considering whether it is worth inviting foreign observers to military exercises in the country. This was stated today, September 18, by the head of the Department of International Military Cooperation, Deputy Minister of Defense for International Military Cooperation Valery Revenko.
“The 2011 Vienna Document on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, as well as Belarus’ existing regional agreements with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland contain the necessary tools that, if our Western colleagues wish, could be used today for a gradual return to a substantive dialogue on security issues in the region. Restoring trust is impossible without practical measures. Such actions are necessary primarily in connection with operational and combat training activities, the intensity and scale of which have significantly increased.” – said.
According to him, a series of multinational exercises “Defender” were held in Europe in the spring of 2024, but representatives of Belarus were not invited, despite the fact that the number of participants in the exercises exceeded 13 thousand people, which was a gross violation of the provisions of the Vienna Document. Belarusian representatives were also not invited to the current multinational tactical exercise Nameis.
“A logical question arises: should Belarus continue the practice of inviting foreign observers when conducting large-scale operational and combat training events on our territory? We express our hope that an objective assessment of the capabilities of the Vienna Document and regional confidence- and security-building measures will allow both the states bordering Belarus and other countries to make the only correct decision and return to pragmatic dialogue. We are confident that many urgent issues related to the activities of the armed forces in general and in the border areas in particular will be resolved.” – Revenko stressed.
It should be noted that Minsk has repeatedly expressed the aggressive policy of NATO countries towards the republic. At the same time, the Belarusian side has always expressed its readiness for constructive dialogue.
