Makei Speaks Against Placement Of NATO Contingent In Poland

The Belarusian Minister for Foreign Affairs stated that the official Minsk would raise the combat readiness of its army in response.

Belarus sees a certain threat in NATO’s strengthening at the eastern flank and considers corresponding development of its armed forces. Head of the Belarusian MFA Uladzimir Makei stated this on Monday during the mutual press-briefing with Poland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Witold Waszczykowski, TASS reports.

"We do not welcome the placement of a NATO contingent in Poland and the Baltic states. However, we cannot prevent this, so we are trying to understand the logic of our partners. We do not want to believe that NATO plans include making some kind of aggression against Belarus," — Makei said, having emphasized that Minsk "is thinking about increasing the combat readiness of the armed forces."

"We do not perceive what is happening as a direct military threat for Belarus, but we consider it a challenge and thinking about the methods to respond adequately to these events", — the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry stated.

"We give a negative assessment of what is happening in our region, explaining that Belarus does not consider that deployment of additional military contingents facilitates distribution of security,” — the Minister added. — “We do not want to see these events leading to the formation of new dividing lines."

Foreign Minister of Belarus Uladzimir Makei is in Poland on a working visit at the invitation of his Polish counterpart Witold Waszczykowski. The visit is timed to the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration on Good-neighborliness, mutual recognition and cooperation between Belarus and Poland.

"A certain convergence was observed in the Belarusian-Polish relations in the recent months, and we will work hard to continue this process," — Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland Witold Waszczykowski said on October 10, after a meeting with Uladzimir.