Andrei Sannikov: Lukashenka's Regime Is As Toxic For Region As Its Kremlin Bosses

NATO leaders closely monitor the Russian military activities in Belarus.

The International Security Forum was held in Halifax, Canada, on November 17-19. Belarus was represented by the leader of the European Belarus civil campaign, presidential candidate in the 2010 elections, Andrei Sannikov. The politician told Charter97.org about the issues that are of the world elite’s concern today and what they think about the situation in Belarus.

– You’ve taken part in the largest world security forum in Halifax. What issues were in the spotlight there?

– This year, more than 300 people from 80 countries of the world have taken part in the forum, including the NATO Secretary General, the Ministers of Defense of Canada, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the commanders of the US Armed Forces, foreign ministers, leaders of the world's leading companies, journalists of leading publications, human rights defenders. This is the largest forum – the only conference of this kind in North America. As a rule, the participants of the highest level take part in it.

It can be said that the Forum discussed all the pressing world problems. Special attention was paid to crisis phenomena and crisis regions, in particular, some of the discussions were focused on the situation in North Korea, Russia's policy, the war against Ukraine, the world technological changes, the role of China in the modern world, the Middle East problem.

– Were there any discussions on the situation in our region?

– Certainly, there were. Russia's aggressive behavior, its unwillingness to stop the war in Ukraine was mentioned as well. The Belarusian-Russian exercises West-2017, which attracted attention of both politicians and military leaders, were often spoken about.

The growing role of NATO was discussed as well. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in particular, welcomed Canada’s return to Europe, bearing in mind that the Canadians are heading the NATO forces in Latvia today.

– Was Belarus discussed only in the context of the West-2017 exercises?

– Belarus was mentioned quite often. Both in connection with the West-2017 exercises, and in connection with the strange desire of Brussels to invite dictator Lukashenka to the Eastern Partnership summit. Most of the participants expressed their bewilderment regarding this fact and said it was a wrong decision.

As for the West-2017 exercises, NATO leaders admitted when talking to me that at first they had underestimated the scale of this military operation. In their opinion, Russia and Belarus tried to mislead NATO when providing information on the exercises on the territory of Belarus. In fact, the scale of the exercises was different – from the Arctic Ocean to the Black and Mediterranean seas.

Poland's Minister of Defense Anonyi Matserevich bluntly said that these exercises were a preparation for war.

– You’ve posted a photo with the commander of US Strategic Forces, John Hayten, on your Facebook page. What did you talk about?

– I recalled the negotiations on nuclear disarmament in which I had taken part, and we discussed the state of current relations in that regard between Russia and the United States. By the way, General Hayten highly appreciated Belarus' contribution to nuclear disarmament in the early 1990s.

– How serious is the Western concern about the close military-political alliance between Moscow and Minsk?

– A large number of military commanders and military experts took part in the Forum, and their opinion is unequivocal: Belarus under Lukashenka is a part of Russia's military strategy and military operations. Consequently, Lukashenka's regime threatens the regional security as much as his Kremlin bosses do.

NATO leaders closely monitor the Russian military activities in Belarus.