Minsk, Aug 23 (IANS): Nato has denied “baseless” allegations by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that “foreign powers” were organising a build-up of troops on the country’s border amid the ongoing tensions.
In a statement, Nato said it posed “no threat to Belarus or any other country” and had “no military build-up in the region”, the BBC reported.
“Our posture is strictly defensive,” it said.
Nato’s remarks come after Lukashenko, dressed in military fatigues, said on Saturday that he had placed his armed forces on “high alert” and accused Nato of trying to split up Belarus and install a new president in Minsk.
He said troops in Poland and Lithuania were readying themselves, and that he was moving his armed forces to the country’s western border.
Tensions have gripped Belarus after Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, won a sixth term during the August 9 elections, with the opposition refusing to recognize the results.
In the election, the President won 80.1 per cent of the votes, while the main opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya garnered only 10.12 per cent.
Protests calling for Lukashenko to resign continued in the streets of the capital Minsk on Saturday.
Crowds of protestors waved bright lights from mobile phones and flew Belarusian flags in the streets of Minsk while chanting “freedom”.
