He spoke about this on Sunday during the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Democracy and Security Committee meeting, held in the Lithuanian Parliament building in Vilnius.
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“Although (authoritarian Belarusian President Aliaksandr – BNS) Lukashenko may show interest in improving relations with the West, he probably does not plan to turn away from Russia or change his authoritarian rule,” said the head of Lithuanian intelligence.
“Instead, he continues to act aggressively towards Lithuania and its neighbors. Belarus uses politically motivated arrests of Lithuanian citizens, attempts to exert pressure, intimidation,” he asserted.
R. Bridikis mentioned that the regime unjustly detains Lithuanian citizens, and Belarusian residents end up in prison simply for reading regime-designated extremist press.
“We do not see Belarus taking any positive steps and believe that it will continue to incite or exploit problems to threaten the security of its neighboring states for its own benefit,” the official stated.
In the same discussion, Julius Katinas, Deputy Director of the Second Operational Services Department (AOTD), pointed out that Belarus’s military independence from Russia decreases every year, especially after joining Russia’s military doctrine, where the West is mentioned as a threat.
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“There are Russian military bases in Belarus, as well as early warning radars, and Russia’s strategic air defense capabilities are also in Belarus. Belarus provides its territory for infrastructure that improves the operation of Russian drones against Ukraine. Russian aircraft are currently deployed in Belarus for operations against Ukraine. Belarus has also deployed Russian nuclear weapon capabilities on its territory, which corresponds to nuclear weapons proliferation,” J. Katinas stated.
According to him, Belarusian territory is accessible to Russian military forces without any restrictions.
“In fact, without Belarus’s help, this war (in Ukraine – BNS) would hardly be possible,” said the military intelligence representative.
After A. Lukashenko released some political prisoners from jails and allowed previously detained Lithuanian trucks to leave the country, the US Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale urged Vilnius to renew relations with Minsk, hold a deputy minister-level meeting, and restore the transit of Belarusian fertilizers through Lithuania.
Lithuania and the entire European Union imposed sanctions on the Minsk regime after the 2020 presidential elections, whose results the West and the Belarusian opposition declared falsified, and after A. Lukashenko used repression to suppress mass protests involving hundreds of thousands.
