The purpose of the Belarusian state leadership’s statements is to create an image of LukaÅ¡enka, according to which he is a prerequisite for peace for his country, says Arkady Moshes, Program Director of the Foreign Policy Institute.
The government of Belarus claims that the Western countries are planning military actions against Belarus. The country’s defense minister tells about it Viktor Hrenin Belarus state news agency Beltane by.
– We see that Western Europe, led by the United States, has taken measures to prepare for military action. We understand who these actions will be directed against, says Hrenin.
Hrenin claims in additionthat the military alliance NATO intends to “under the guise of a military exercise†establish rapid action forces and place them near the border of Belarus.
NATO is currently running Steadfast Defender 2024 exercisewho is NATO’s supreme military commander Chris Cavolini according to the coalition’s largest exercise in decades. In the exercise, the NATO countries are testing the military alliance’s readiness to repel Russian forces that have invaded a NATO country, Financial Times write.
Also the autocratic leader of Belarus Aljaksandr LukaÅ¡enka says that he is worried about NATO’s actions on the borders of Belarus and Russia.
LukaÅ¡enka claims that there are currently around 32,000 NATO and US soldiers in the immediate vicinity of the countries’ borders. LukaÅ¡enka’s statements are reported under his administration and by the messaging service Telegram Pul Pervogo propaganda channel.
– The hunger of the collective West grows and its activity increases. The US and its allies continue to expand NATO. The situation is more than favorable for them. I will say it directly without unnecessary diplomacy: almost all European leaders have become subjects of the USA, Lukašenka claims.
Researcher: We want to create an image of Lukašenka as a leader who guarantees peace
Program director of the Foreign Policy Institute Arkady Moshes sees that the purpose of the Belarusian state leadership’s statements is to create an image of LukaÅ¡enkas, according to which only he can guarantee peace in his country.
– The statements are in no way to be taken seriously. They are routine and part of normal propaganda. Their message is that Lukashenka is the only leader who can keep the peace in Belarus, says Moshes.
Moshes estimates that the background of the statements is also LukaÅ¡enka’s personal efforts to appear as a significant leader to Western countries. Moshes says that LukaÅ¡enka has aimed for this, among other things, by creating security threats to the West.
– That’s what he tried when he talked about placing Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus. He also tried this when he welcomed the Wagner mercenary group to his country and talked about sending Wagner to Poland.
Lukašenka believes that with such means the Western countries would be willing to negotiate with him, says Moshes.
– This is one of his ways. He says that there is a crisis and something can happen and the western countries should somehow react to it.
The war of aggression started by Russia in Ukraine also plays a role in the statements of the Belarusian state leadership. Moshes believes that the purpose of the statements is also to shift attention away from the fact that the country enabled Russia’s actions in Ukraine about two years ago.
– Belarus is an aggressor state from the point of view of international law, which was involved in Russia’s attack. We want to draw attention elsewhere so that people don’t talk about it.