Lukashenko lives in his own world – Dagsavisen

– The National Security Committee, in cooperation with colleagues from other agencies, has recently implemented a series of emergency security measures to prevent drone attacks from Lithuanian territory against targets in Minsk and the city’s suburbs.

This was said by the head of Belarus’ security service on Thursday according to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, according to the Reuters news agency. Furthermore, he claimed that a quantity of weapons are stopped every day which are attempted to be smuggled into the country to commit terrorist attacks.

– Lithuania’s military has not carried out, nor will it carry out, any hostile actions against other countries, says a spokesperson to Reuters according to NTB.

The country’s president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, claimed on Thursday that there are several critical threats against the country. Furthermore, he said that this is the reason why the country had to allow Russian nuclear weapons within the country’s borders.

The president claimed that the political opposition had plans to take over land in the west of the country, and then ask for NATO support to keep it, both NTB and Reuters write.

– It is a task for psychotherapists to comment on this, I think. Lukashenko lives in his own world and he seems to be rapidly losing touch with reality, said Franak Viacorka, assistant to the opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanowskaja, who lives in exile.

Also read: Professors: – Europe, not NATO, must send forces to Ukraine

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Facts about Belarus

* Formerly Belarus, republic in Eastern Europe with 9.5 million inhabitants.

* Member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (SUS), has close economic and military cooperation with Russia.

* Aleksandr Lukashenko (69), trained teacher and agronomist, has been president of Belarus since 1994.

* In 2020, he was re-elected in an election which, according to the opposition and Western countries, went wrong.

* Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in protest.

* Over 35,000 people were arrested, several were killed, thousands were beaten up, and independent media and a number of organizations were banned.

* There are still 1,400 political prisoners in Belarus, and torture in police custody and prisons is widespread.

Source: NTB / AP / Amnesty International / HRW

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Also read: General: – Now we have three choices. Only one of them can stop Putin

– Very unlikely

Arve Hansen, an expert on Belarus at the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, does not believe that the claims are correct.

– This seems very unlikely. I cannot imagine what Lithuania or Poland would gain from a military attack on Belarus. However, Lukashenko regularly makes such claims, so this is nothing new. As recently as February, he alleged that NATO was planning a provocation on Polish territory, to blame Russia and Belarus, he says.

– Why do they come up with such schemes?

– Ever since Lukashenko came to power almost 30 years ago, he has tried to create an image of himself as a strong and stable leader. With such schemes, he is trying to show the Belarusian population that without him the country will collapse into war and anarchy. The paradox is that it is Lukashenko himself who has allowed Belarus to become involved in an illegal war of aggression with unimaginable consequences, says Hansen.

He believes that Lukashenko is weaker than he expresses.

– The war in Ukraine is a big risk for the Belarusian dictator. Lukashenko has used large resources to build up an enormous police state. The military, on the other hand, is far worse off and consists of ordinary, ordinary Belarusians. He cannot know how they will react if they were suddenly handed weapons with an order to attack the neighboring country, says Hansen and continues:

– We must remember that the relationship between Belarusians and Ukrainians has traditionally been very strong. On the other hand, his political future will hang in the balance if Putin suffers a heavy loss in Ukraine. We must remember that in 2020 it was only political and financial support from Moscow that enabled Lukashenko to stay in power, Hansen points out.

Also read: The US confirms it has sent long-range missiles to Ukraine

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