MINSK, February 7. /TASS/. The militarization of Poland and other neighboring states poses ever-greater risks to the military security of Belarus, the State Secretary of Belarus’ Security Council Alexander Volfovich said on Tuesday.
"We can see what is going on in neighboring countries today. It’s complete militarization. This is especially true of Poland and the Baltic countries. This year, the Polish leadership set 4% of GDP as their defense spending target. An unthinkable amount. That’s the equivalent of $28 billion," the media resource SB.Belarus Today quotes Volfovich as saying.
The Polish leadership, he said, recently decided to form a new mechanized division, to be stationed near the Belarusian border.
"The supplies of Abrams tanks, South Korea’s Black Panther tanks, and other armored vehicles, such as self-propelled howitzers for this division have already begun. Advanced US F-35 aircraft are being purchased. All this, of course, increases the risks and challenges to the military security of Belarus," Volfovich said.
He noted that Baltic countries were not far behind Poland in this respect. Volfovich pointed out that these neighboring countries had decided to fence themselves off from Belarus with a 5-meter-tall steel barrier, thus endangering the country’s military security.
"As far as democracy and freedom of speech are concerned, they have barricaded themselves, too. But at the same time, they provoke tensions and incidents involving migrants. Some of these poor people, driven out of Europe, are found half dead on our side of the border. We also find migrants’ corpses dropped on our territory. This is called European democracy," Volfovich said.