Belarus’ Defenсe Ministry: restoring trust in region impossible without practical actions
Restoring trust in the region cannot happen without practical actions – as noted by Chief of the International Military Co-operation Department, Assistant to the Defence Minister for Foreign Military Co-operation Valery Revenko, sb.by reports with reference to the Belarusian Defence Ministry
“For a long time, there have been theses in discussions at various levels that conventional arms control mechanisms do not work in Europe. At the same time, absolutely all states of the collective West express concerns about the tense military-political situation within the OSCE area,” Valery Revenko said. “Moreover, loud statements are being made about the readiness to make every effort to normalise the situation. In our opinion, the Vienna Document of 2011 on confidence and security-building measures, as well as the existing regional agreements between Belarus and Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, contain the necessary tools that – if desired by our Western colleagues – could already be used today to gradually return to a substantive dialogue on security issues in the region. Restoring trust is impossible without practical actions. Such actions are necessary primarily in relation to operational and combat training activities, the intensity and scale of which have increased significantly.”
The Defence Ministry representative recalled that in spring 2024, a series of Defender Europe multinational exercise took place, with observations organised of the largest of them. Despite the fact that the number of participants in the military drills exceeded 13,000 troops, representatives of Belarus were not invited to them. This was a gross violation of the provisions of the Vienna Document.
Representatives of Belarus were also not invited to the Namejs multinational tactical exercise currently underway.
“Initially, up to 14,000 military personnel were announced to participate in the military manoeuvres. However, subsequently the number of participants was adjusted to 11,000 troops, which is also a high figure, especially taking into account the current military and political situation. On the one hand, Latvia continues to fulfil its obligations under the Vienna Document with regard to sending information on the largest military activities to all participating states. On the other hand, it is regrettable that representatives of Belarus were not invited to observe the active phase of the Namejs exercise, whereas the observation was organised by the Latvian side and representatives of five states are taking part in it. This event, held for the ‘closed club’ of selected countries, is unlikely to contribute to the much-needed strengthening of trust and security,” Valery Revenko emphasised.
The Assistant to the Defence Minister drew attention to the fact that a logical question arises: should Belarus continue the practice of inviting foreign observers when large-scale operational and combat training events will take place on our territory?
“We hope that an objective assessment of the possibilities of the Vienna Document, regional confidence and security measures will allow both the states bordering Belarus and other countries to make the only right decision and return to a pragmatic dialogue. We are confident that many pressing issues related to the activities of the armed forces in general and in the border areas in particular will be settled. Belarus continues to take consistent steps to reduce tensions and prevent another regional conflict. Are our European neighbours aware of all the possible consequences of their destructive policies? The question remains open,” Valery Revenko stressed.
