Lukashenko explains West's attempts to drag Belarus into war

Attempts are being made to drag Belarus into war. Western neighbors are particularly persistent at it. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement in his Address to the nation and the parliament on 31 March, BelTA has learned. Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “War is somewhere far away: in Afghanistan, Syria, Libya. But war is already here: there is a bitter conflict over our fence and you can see what is going on inside. The things I warned you about in 2020 are happening: they tried everything back then and have approached the only option: the military one in order to break us. This is what's happening. There will always be a pretext. They are trying to drag Belarus into war. These facts cannot be concealed.”

The president pointed out that in 2023 alone Poland intends to spend about €21 billion on military needs or about 3% of the GDP. 70% more than in 2022. The figure may rise to €27.7 billion or 4% of the GDP by 2024. “It is twice as much as NATO demanded. Why? Who threatens Poland?” Aleksandr Lukashenko wondered.

The rearmament of the Polish army is going fast. With offensive weapons at that. In accordance with the latest contracts alone Poland will soon receive 366 Abrams tanks and 1,000 South Korean Black Panther tanks as well as 900 self-propelled howitzers K9A1, 38 multiple-launch rocket systems HIMARS, 50 anti-armor missile systems Javelin, and 1,500 infantry fighting vehicles Borsuk of its own make.

“The decision to increase the number of military personnel up to 300,000 people by 2035 has been made. In other words, practically two times as many as what Poland has today. The realization of these plans will advance Warsaw to the leading position among NATO countries in