Major General: Belarus to view Poland's territorial claims as threat

In his speech at the Belarusian People's Congress, the Head of State clearly stated that, although the country’s National Security Concept and Military Doctrine are peace-loving documents, peacefulness does not mean pacifism, and these two concepts should not be confused – as stated the Assistant to the Defence Minister, Chief of the Main Ideological Directorate at Belarus’ Defence Ministry, Major General Leonid Kasinsky, during the Minsk-Moscow Union State live streaming

“The National Security Concept and the Military Doctrine build the basis for ensuring the protection of our state,” Mr. Kasinsky added. “The former specifies each of the spheres of national security, and its new edition outlines new areas that have emerged due to the situation developing around the Union State and, in general, in the world. Regarding the Military Doctrine, this is a programme document that stipulates how Belarus will ensure its security, and what methods it will use,” Mr. Kasinsky said, adding that it concerns not only the armed forces and law enforcement agencies: the Military Doctrine provides grounds for strategic planning of the entire defence of the state.

"At the same time, the Military Doctrine reflects Belarus’ peaceful nature: the country does not threaten anyone," the Major General noted. “At the same time, immediately after the Belarusian People’s Congress, some Polish politicians tried to distort the content of our Military Doctrine in order to form an enemy image of Belarus. Our document stipulates that the republic does not treat any nation as an enemy, regardless of the actions of its government. However – as often stated by our Commander-in-Chief and we are to repeat – if Poland has territorial claims against Belarus, then why cannot we talk about this situation as a risk, threat or challenge? The world community should know and understand this. We are taking appropriate steps to contain and prevent this conflict from being possible.”

Mr. Kasinsky added that, according to the Military Doctrine, nuclear weapons are Belarus’ main deterrent, “There is – let us say so – nuclear blackmail in the world, and Western countries use it very skilfully, accusing the Russian Federation of allegedly being ready to launch a nuclear strike on someone almost tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. True, Russia is ready, and this is spelled out in its conceptual documents. However, there are also conditions when such weapons can be used: when the country’s existence is at stake. The same provision is clearly envisaged by our doctrinal documents as well.”