Minsk is concerned about the accumulation of Polish troops on the border

A meeting of the Security Council of Belarus was held on Thursday. It discussed a wide range of threats, from military to informational and even environmental. In general, the state of national security is assessed positively. However, there are alarm bells – Poland is concentrating its armed forces in the Suwalki corridor. Meanwhile, on the same day, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in which it points to the threat posed by the investigative authorities of Belarus itself.

Alexander Lukashenko opened the meeting of the Security Council on Thursday. He explained that he had invited those responsible to discuss the report on the state of national security and measures to strengthen it, as well as threats, taking into account a broader approach to their assessment.

“Let me remind you that the evaluation procedure has been adjusted. This is reflected in the relevant decree. Taking into account the dynamics of the situation, the approved priorities of socio-economic development, the indicators, their thresholds, the subjects of this process and other issues were clarified,” Alexander Lukashenko noted.

For the first time, the Security Council discussed the situation in each of the nine areas of national security: political, economic, scientific, technological, social, demographic, biological, informational, military, and environmental. “These issues are fully contained in the National Security Concept, which was approved by the decision of the All–Belarusian National Assembly,” the president added. Lukashenko stressed that the assessments of all these parameters will be taken into account when preparing his Message to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly.

Among the indicators of the state of national security, along with such traditional ones as “the readiness of the military organization of the state to carry out tasks to ensure military security,” there are now such indicators as “the availability and effectiveness of international legal and political-legal guarantees of security and sovereignty of Belarus” and “the level of trust in state institutions.”

At the end of the meeting, Alexander Volfovich, Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus, summed up the results. He told reporters: “In general, the situation is assessed positively. Of course, there are moments, there are some areas that do not entirely depend on the activities of the President of our country, on the leadership and members of the Security Council. There are factors that are above us. First of all, the foreign policy situation is straining, with a tendency to aggravate.”

And it’s not just about the global level. Neighboring countries also worry Wolfovich. “We see what is happening today in the neighboring territory, near our borders in the western direction. In the western theater of military operations. We are watching how our closest neighbors (Poles, Balts) are militarizing and intensifying aggressive rhetoric. Just recently, information was received that the Poles are deploying new operational units and reconnaissance battalions in the area of the Suwalki corridor, and are dragging equipment there. They are trying to defend themselves from an imaginary threat from the East. Although it looks so funny today. Because the Armed Forces of Belarus, the military organization of the state, does not rely on an increase in military budgets, an increase in the number of exercises,” the Secretary of the Security Council stressed.

The Suwalki Corridor is a strip about 100 km long on the border between Lithuania and Poland, which also borders the Kaliningrad Region of Russia and Belarus.

Meanwhile, on the same day, a meeting of the European Parliament was held, at which a resolution was adopted indicating a threat from the Belarusian Investigative Committee. The document was supported by 535 deputies, 19 opposed, 55 abstained.

Pavel Latushko, deputy head of the Joint Transitional Cabinet, said on one of the opposition Internet resources that the resolution was provoked by his personal appeal, and was directly initiated by Michal Kobosko, a European parliamentarian from Poland.

According to Latushko, the European Parliament “considers the persecution of Belarusian citizens for their peaceful democratic activities abroad as a direct violation of the territorial sovereignty of the EU member states.” The resolution also “calls for pan-European legal support and protection of Belarusians in exile.” He also calls for additional sanctions against officials “responsible for transnational repression.”

The resolution, according to the oppositionist, was caused by statements by the Investigative Committee of Belarus addressed to participants in the celebration of Freedom Day outside the country.

On March 21, the Investigative Committee reported that the agency “is implementing a set of investigative actions and procedural measures in a criminal case against participants of anti-Belarusian foreign actions and their organizers, held on January 26 of this year. Searches were conducted at the places of registration and at the objects of real property of the deanonymized extremist asset. The property and real estate are identified, which are seized for subsequent compensation of damage caused to the State. As part of the investigation, all participants in street actions abroad, which is about 400 people, have been recognized as suspects in the criminal case.”

At the same time, the Investigative Committee warned: “There is information about plans to hold regular foreign “gatherings” dedicated to the so-called Freedom Day. Law enforcement officers will analyze data on potential and actual participants in these events in order to identify them and further bring them to criminal responsibility, including through the use of a special production mechanism. Everyone’s actions will be given a principled legal assessment.”