NATO build-up seen as threat to Belarus' national security

The growing NATO military presence has created a threat to the national security of Belarus, Belarus' Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said at a meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus on 18 February, BelTA has learned. «A serious threat to the national security of Belarus comes from the NATO build-up near our western border under the pretext of dealing with the ‘escalating' migrant crisis and growing tensions around Ukraine which they are persistently trying to paint as a target of an aggression which allegedly may also come from our country,” the head of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Taking into account the new realities, the head of state set a task to determine the country's current and long-term foreign policy priorities at the 6th Belarusian People's Congress.

A number of specific tasks in foreign policy were announced at a meeting of the president with the heads of the country's diplomatic missions in July last year. Vladimir Makei stressed that in 2021 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs adjusted the main guidelines of the Belarusian diplomacy, reorganized the system of diplomatic service bodies taking into account the dynamics of political, trade and economic cooperation, and concentrated all efforts to implement the tasks set by the president and the government.

According to the minister, bilateral relations between Belarus and Russia have advanced significantly. „We have opened a new chapter in the development of the Union State.

The 28 Union State programs approved by the presidents of Belarus and Russia in November 2021 have created the basis for furthering the economic integration of our countries,“ he said. “In the context of emerging economic