Fear is growing in Europe, especially along the "hot" borders with Russia

Fear is growing in Europe, especially along the "hot" borders with Russia

Poland has already strengthened controls on the border with Belarus, Germany will permanently deploy a robust brigade of 4 thousand soldiers in Lithuania. But Vilnius wants more. Worried about a "unpredictable and dangerous neighbor" like Russia and of a Belarus increasingly involved in Putin's dynamics, Lithuania also asks NATO to "prepare very specific plans to strengthen the eastern flank".

Fear is growing in Europe, especially along the "hot" borders. Along with Russia, now Belarus is also increasingly frightening, after President Aleksandr Lukashenko has carved out the role of great mediator, to stop Prigozhin's "march on Moscow", and also of "guardian", at least for now, of the three-star fugitive of the rebel boss. The Belarusian leader speaks to the nation, after Putin did so, openly praising and thanking Lukashenko for his help. «Now we are faced with two hypotheses – analyzes the Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis – Either Wagner is integrated into the Russian army. Or she follows Prigozhin to Belarus."

To confirm the darkest predictions, the news also arrived that the construction of a military camp has started, right in Belarus, capable of hosting 8 thousand Wagner mercenaries. The independent Belarusian newspaper Verstkaha reports that work has already begun in Osipovichi, 200 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

The workers received orders to build in a very short time on a surface area of ​​24 thousand square meters. Yet until the other day there was still no trace in Belarus of the paramilitaries in the pay of the oligarch Prigozhin. News that is not enough to make the Baltic countries, Poland and all of Europe sleep peacefully, where fears are growing for the role that Minsk will play, from now on, on the stage or behind the lines of war. «We must monitor the situation carefully – insists the Lithuanian minister – because, if this is the case, it is clear that we will find ourselves faced with a scenario similar to what happened before 24 February 2022», when Belarus served as a bridgehead for Ukraine's attack from the north and the attempted coup in Kiev. «We saw on Saturday – concludes Landsbergis – that it took a military unit just half a day to get within 200 km of Moscow. Now it is easy to understand how easily it could cross Belarus and directly threaten Lithuania."

Fears raised by the exiled leader of the Belarusian opposition, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: “If Prigozhin comes to Belarus with his henchmen, he will also threaten our neighbors, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.” Not only. «In Belarus, the head of Wagner could be involved in the training of Minsk troops, in arms trafficking or in a new attack on Ukraine from the northern border».

Disturbing predictions, even more so if we consider the deployment, just two weeks ago, of Russian nuclear weapons, under the control of Moscow, on Belarusian territory. For Lukashenko these are devices three times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. They could hit Kiev, Warsaw and Vilnius in two minutes and, in a little more, the other European cities. NATO and the United States are aware of this, while reassuring that they have "no signal" that the Kremlin intends to use them. «The events show a strategic error by Putin – he explains Stoltenbeger from Lithuania – but «we are also monitoring the situation in Belarus», after the «irresponsible» transfer of nuclear weapons. Let's remain vigilant."
Weakened Putin increases concern about the nuclear suitcase and Lukashenko, intoxicated by the latest "success", is equally frightening. He may be looking for more glory. But there is another hypothesis: «The insurrection has started irreversible processes among the Russian elite – explains Tikhanovskaya – It has shown that Putin is not omnipotent and Lukashenko will not survive without Putin».