Stoltenberg: NATO to keep an eye on Wagner chief in Belarus

June 28, BPN. NATO will monitor Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin and his forces in Belarus, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told journalists following a meeting with the leaders of seven NATO countries in The Hague on June 27.

The event preceded the NATO summit scheduled for July 11 and 12 in Vilnius.

“It’s too early to make any final judgement about the consequences of the fact that Prigozhin has moved to Belarus, and that most likely also some of his forces will also be located in Belarus,” Stoltenberg said stressing NATO’s readiness to protect every its member, especially those bordering Belarus.

The bloc is “closely monitoring the developments” in connection with Prigozhin’s mutiny and has already increased its military presence at its eastern borders, he added. The upcoming NATO summit will decide on further strengthening of collective defense “to ensure credible deterrence,” Stoltenberg noted.

“We have sent a clear message to Moscow and to Minsk that NATO is there to protect every Ally, every inch of NATO territory,” Stoltenberg stressed. “We do that through what we communicate, but also through our actions over several years now.” Minsk and Moscow are aware of NATO’s “ability to defend Allies against any potential threat” regardless of the Wagner forces movements, he stressed.

Stoltenberg praised NATO’s decision to reinforce collective defense after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Troops are exercising “to scale up the current battle group in Lithuania to a full brigade-size presence” while Germany announced a further increase of its presence in Lithuania, he noted.

On June 26, the Lithuanian State Defense Council agreed to step up security at Lithuania’s eastern borders ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius. Potential Wagner Group presence in Belarus may pose more threats, Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda warned.

The Council also instructed intelligence services to focus on Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad region in light of growing threats of illegal activities at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. Nausėda also called for additional personalized screenings not only for Russian but also for Belarusian nationals.