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Polish copter’s border violation was not provocation — Belarusian Defense Minister

According to Viktor Khrenin, Belarus, unlike Poland, "does not scare its population" in connection with the border incident or strengthen military presence

BREST REGION, September 4. /TASS/. Belarus does not regard the incident involving a violation of the state border by a Polish military helicopter on September 1 as a provocation, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin has said.

"This is nothing but a result of the pilots’ poor training. We still have interaction [with the Polish side] within the framework of flight support. We saw this aircraft, we knew its task - it was patrolling the state border. We tracked its flight all the way. Unlike our aggressive neighbors, we do not regard this as a provocation," Khrenin told the media during the special exercise of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s forces codenamed Echelon, afoot in the Brest Region.

According to Khrenin, Belarus, unlike Poland, "does not scare its population" in connection with the border incident or strengthen military presence.

"We are not moving troops to the state border because of this incident. We are not pulling up aviation," Khrenin said adding that he would advise the Polish side to train "its pilots to be professionals."

The State Border Committee of Belarus reported earlier that a Polish military helicopter had violated the Belarusian border in the Grodno Region on September 1. In connection with the incident, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry summoned Polish Charge d'Affaires Wojciech Filimonowicz and demanded explanations and a thorough investigation of the incident. It also expressed a strong request to Warsaw to take measures to prevent such incidents in the future.