MINSK, August 22. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has called on the defense ministry’s leadership to take all measures on protecting the country’s territorial integrity, paying a special focus on its western part.
"We must first of all protect the western jewel in the crown of Belarus with the center in Grodno," Lukashenko said during his visit to a military firing range near Grodno, according to BelTA news agency.
The Belarusian leader urged "the toughest measures on protecting the country’s territorial integrity.".
Lukashenko said the scenario of color revolutions using the external factor is carried out against his country.
"Everything is clear. As we thought, everything is according to the plan of color revolutions with whipping up domestic political tensions in the country," Lukashenko said.
According to the Belarusian leader, "the hallmark of the situation is that an external factor is used, which does not always happen."
"Usually, they whip up tensions inside and topple the authorities. But since the authorities are strong and put up tough resistance, they have used an external factor," Lukashenko said.
Western states
Lukashenko has accused the West of providing military support for the country’s opposition, saying that this was confirmed by NATO forces’ movement to the Belarusian borders.
"You see, they are already pulling "an alternative president" here and doing this seriously because there have been plenty of statements by Western states on financing and support," Lukashenko said during his visit to a military firing range near Grodno on Saturday.
"Military support is evident - NATO forces are moving to the borders," the Belarusian leader stressed.
According to him, the opposition was planning to turn to the Western states, namely NATO, in order to protect citizens. "They are deploying forces and call it quits with Belarus," Lukashenko said.
The Belarusian leader has branded the West’s support for the opposition as direct meddling in the Belarusian affairs. "This concerns sponsoring [the opposition] and pushing us to hold talks with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, it’s clear why they are doing this," the Belarusian leader was quoted by BelTA news agency as saying. According to Lukashenko, these steps and statements by Western countries are "direct interference in the situation in Belarus."
Earlier at the Security Council’s meeting Lukashenko ordered the Defense Ministry to pay a special focus on the NATO forces’ movement to Poland and Lithuania. He noted that NATO sought to destabilize the situation in Grodno.
Belarus, which held the August 9 presidential election, has been hit by mass protests for more than a week. The protesters challenged the outcome of the vote. During the first day of riots, the protesters clashed with police. Over 6,000 people were detained, dozens of police officers and protesters were injured. According to the final data of the Central Election Commission, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko won 80.10% of the vote. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who was considered as his key rival, garnered 10.12% of the vote. She did not recognize the outcome of the polls.