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Moscow, Minsk protect western flank of shared security bloc, other threats exist — top MP

"Our priority task is to prevent destabilization in the region, firmly adhere to our allied obligations and stand up for what is of vital importance to our citizens: peace, economic development and shared values," Vladimir Andreichenko said

MINSK, December 5. /TASS/. Belarus and Russia have thoroughly covered the Western borders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), but the danger of strikes from other directions still exists, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly Vladimir Andreichenko said during a joint session of the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly and the 15th plenary session of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly in Moscow on Monday.

"We just have to react adequately to emerging threats. To this end, the presidents of Belarus and Russia [Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin] decided to engage the regional group of troops of the Union State [of Belarus and Russia]. By doing so, we have provided sound protection of the CSTO’s western borders but can we be sure that a strike won’t be delivered from some other direction?" the Belarusian top lawmaker said, reiterating that over recent years, NATO forces in Belarus’ neighbor countries have increased more than 17 fold.

The Belarusian parliamentary speaker noted that "our adversaries spare no means or efforts to impede integration processes in the post-Soviet space and particularly within greater Eurasia." "Their goals are to preserve unrestricted access to natural resources, preferably, practically for free, like it used to be in the 1990s. The US and its allies won’t stop in the face of anything, even a global catastrophe. And one must understand that only together can we survive in this struggle for survival," he emphasized.

"Our priority task is to prevent destabilization in the region, firmly adhere to our allied obligations and stand up for what is of vital importance to our citizens: peace, economic development and shared values," he said, listing the goals of the Belarusian CSTO chairmanship in 2023.

The CSTO includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Armenia has been chairing the organization in 2022 with Belarus taking over next year.

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Foreign policy Belarus

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