Baltic states, Poland urge NATO to counter Moscow-Minsk threat

July 7, BPN. Lithuania, Latvia and Poland have urged NATO to take action to counter threats from Russia and Belarus, saying that their cooperation undermines the security of the region and the Euro-Atlantic area.

In a letter to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and other leaders, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, Latvian President Egils Levits and Polish President Andrzej Duda expressed concern about the military integration between the two countries, the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, and the possible arrival of Russian mercenaries there.

They are also worried that Minsk may create a new wave of mass migration and humanitarian crisis on the EU borders.

The three leaders called for solidarity and unity within NATO, and suggested that the alliance review its nuclear deterrence policy, fill pre-positioned stock on the eastern flank, and make allies more resilient to hybrid threats.

In a joint statement yesterday, Nausėda and Duda called on Minsk to drop its support for Russia and stop reprisals against civil society and the Polish and Lithuanian minorities.