MINSK, June 1. /TASS/. The intensity of drills conducted close to the Belarusian border shows that NATO is ready for full-scale combat actions in the region, Belarusian Security Council State Secretary Alexander Volfovich said on Thursday.

"The intensity and number of exercises conducted over the past two years allows us to safely say that the North Atlantic Alliance is ready for full-scale combat actions in the region," Volfovich said at a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services in Minsk.

According to him, the current situation in the European region, the epicenter of which is Belarus, can be assessed as "the largest military-political crisis since the end of World War II." "We have to note that the current situation in the world is in a state of systematic crisis in international relations. Humanity has entered an era of acute global confrontation which concerns not only military, but also other dimensions," Volfovich pointed out.

According to him, the balance of power in the European region has changed, given that Finland has joined NATO and Sweden seeks to do the same. Volfovich also pointed out that Eastern European countries were increasing their military budgets. "All these are bad signs of an escalating military build-up," he said.

He also stressed that the global centers of power, the collective West, "not caring about the norms of international law and basic decency, having forgotten about the rules of good neighborliness, does its utmost to drive a wedge between the Commonwealth of Independent States.".