MINSK, November 8. /TASS/. As it expands military presence primarily near the western borders of the Union State, NATO considers the Eastern European region as a springboard for unleashing aggression, the State Secretary of Belarus’ Security Council, Alexander Volfovich, said while commenting on the topics Minsk raised at a meeting of the CIS security councils’ in Moscow.

The BelTA news agency quotes Volfovich as saying the North Atlantic Alliance "considers the Eastern European region as a springboard for unleashing aggression in the near future."

"There is an intensive buildup of military contingents and armed forces on the territory of primarily Eastern Europe," Volfovich said. "This year alone, these groups have increased 2.5 times. The total number of combined forces of the NATO bloc in Eastern Europe exceeds 60,000, of which 32,000 are US servicemen. More than 20,000 are close to the borders of the Union State on the territory of Poland and the Baltic states." He also pointed to the growing military budgets of NATO countries and expanding intelligence activities.

Volfovich noted that at the meeting of the security councils’ secretaries, the Belarusian side focused on the strategy of indirect actions by the collective West in relation to the CIS countries based on "tools and methods of hybrid warfare, as well as color revolution techniques." Minsk also raised the issue of poor neighborly relations around the CIS.

"This is what is happening today in the South Caucasus, in Central Asia and the East European region. There is Ukraine and Transnistria. And, unfortunately, there are conflicts unfolding on the border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan," he explained.

The security councils’ secretaries also discussed the impact of extremist and terrorist threats on the situation around the CIS, particularly in connection with the training of illegal armed groups and intelligence groups in Ukraine and the territories of countries of the collective West. The Belarusian side also raised the issue of the West's economic pressure on the CIS countries against the background of sanctions against Russia and Belarus.