Belarus’ response to NATO - Ministry of Defense constantly demonstrates maximum openness to international community

NATO's presence around the borders of the Union State continues to grow at a rapid pace.  The number of groups in Eastern Europe already amounts to 35,000 personnel.  There are 15 warships, two nuclear submarines and one aircraft carrier in the waters of the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. More than 2 thousand aircraft units are based on the airfields of the Eastern flank.  The exercises near the borders of Belarus are held on a permanent basis. Virtually every week, NATO troops organize training a few km away from our borders.   Anna Chizh-Litash explains how the Belarusian military department reacts to the breath of NATO in the new issue of "In Due Form".

NATO continues to strengthen its presence on the eastern flank deploying response forces, significantly raising the number of forces, forming additional military units and holding more frequent military exercises on the border with Belarus. The alliance continues to expand in quick and decisive steps and provoke the Union State by its actions. All this looks like the Western bloc, under the pretext of containing the "threat from the east," is going to conduct military operations in this field. Literally every week, the organization announces new exercises in the territory of the member states of the alliance. 

How does the Ministry of Defense of Belarus respond to NATO maneuvers near our borders?

Let me remind you that the Belarusian military doctrine is exclusively defensive in nature. Therefore, retaliatory actions to protect the territorial integrity of the state of Belarus will be carried out only in case of an attack. But this does not mean that the Belarusian servicemen "sleep" and hope that the sky over Belarus will always be blue and peaceful.

We have repeatedly talked about the army rearmament program, the development of the domestic military industry, and the purchase of new equipment. But there is another important point - the training of military personnel. In addition to daily training, the troops of Belarus are involved in exercises held both in the territory of their own state and abroad. In 2022, the Belarusian military visited dozens of countries, where they exchanged experience with colleagues and passed the exams. I want to note that they passed it flying colors. 

Belarusian servicemen get the most experience when conducting joint maneuvers with their Russian counterparts. 2022 started with the Allied Resolve joint exercise. Further, the Belarusian-Russian exercises of the Air Force and Air Defense with live firing at the Ashuluk training ground of the Astrakhan Region. The strategic command and staff exercise "Vostok-2022" took place in the Russian Primorye. Almost 50,000 military personnel from 15 countries took part in the training. The Belarusian contingent was also involved.  

The geography of military exercises in Belarus is much wider. Recently, the units of the special operations forces of Belarus and Kazakhstan held a joint training session at the Koktal training ground. For two weeks, the Belarusian special forces conquered the mountains of Kazakhstan, honing their skills in alpine training, as well as in working out joint actions to search for and destroy conditional illegal armed formations in mountainous desert areas. 

Autumn also promises to be eventful. In early October, Kazakhstan joined the map of the exercises of our army. This time, it was held within the framework of the exercises of the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces. Joint trainings of the military personnel of the organization are held several times a year. In the current military-political realities, their pace and intensity should be increased. Also, in the coming weeks, the military personnel of the Belarusian peacekeeping units will take part in the exercise in Kyrgyzstan. 

This year, the main test for the Belarusian military was the command-staff exercise in September. It caused such an informational stir in the media in Ukraine and European countries. Ukrainian military officials have said that the Belarusian army is preparing an offensive against their country.  This is wrong again. Meanwhile, the Belarusian troops were practicing the tasks of liberating the territory temporarily occupied by the enemy, restoring control over the state border in the areas of responsibility. Is it coincidence? This is harsh reality. The Belarusian army passed the exam with flying colors. 

As a rule, the active training activities of the Belarusian troops arouse certain concern among our neighbors. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense constantly demonstrates maximum openness to the international community. All exercises are attended by military attaches, the military department informs foreign diplomats about the progress of the maneuvers.  But Western society still continues to worry about the speck in our eye, not noticing a log in its own.