Belarus' Lukashenko orders army to defend borders ahead of mass protests
Amid the ongoing anti-government protests, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has ordered the army to defend the country's territorial integrity.
- World News
- 3 min read
Belarus has been witnessing massive anti-government protests over the recent election results, in which Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko retained his position with a landslide win. Amid the ongoing protests, Lukashenko has ordered the army to defend the country's territorial integrity. Reportedly, these orders were given while the leader was visiting military units in Grodno.
The 65-year-old leader won a sixth term in the elections that took place on August 9 with 80.23 per cent of the vote. Lukashenko criticized the recent anti-government protests, which as per him are receiving support from Western counties. The authoritarian leader ordered the army to defend and protect western Belarus which he termed as a pearl.
As per reports, Lukashenko’s visit to military training grounds comes ahead of large-scale military exercises planned in Grodno between August 28 and 31. The former collective farm director reportedly said that NATO troops in Poland and Lithuania were moving near their borders with Belarus and ordered his troops into full combat readiness.
NATO reportedly refuted the claims calling them baseless. Commenting on the same, NATO said in a statement that it poses no threat to Belarus or any other country and has no military buildup in the region. Echoing similar sentiments, both Poland and Lithuania also denied the accusation.
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Poland and Lithuania deny accusations, calls them baseless rumours
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda reportedly said that the regime is trying to divert attention from Belarus’ internal issues with baseless rumours about external threats. The Polish president's chief of staff, Krzysztof Szczerski too rebutted the claim calling it regime propaganda.
Recently, Lithuania's foreign ministry reportedly said that US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun will visit Vilnius and Russia next week to discuss the current situation of Belarus and the elections fallout which has led to mass protests. He is planning to meet Lukashenko's main challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in Lithuania, where she is now in exile.
Tikhanovskaya, who left Belarus after the disputed elections reportedly said that they are not afraid. Commenting on the ongoing protests, she said that she is proud of Belarusians because after 26 years of fear they are ready to defend their rights. Several opponents of Lukashenko have organised various strikes and demonstrations to protest his re-election and called him to step down from his position.
The opposition have also organised a major rally in Minsk on August 23 after more than 100,000 people took to the streets of the capital and other cities in the nation last weekend demanding the leader’s resignation. The European Union rejected his re-election and declared to levy sanctions against people responsible for rigging the vote and cracking down on protests.
(Image credit: AP)