Polish Ambassador To US: West-2017 Exercises Are Not Transparent Enough

The Belarusian-Russian exercises carry a potential threat.

Eastern European countries are in an atmosphere of "fear and uncertainty" because of the forthcoming military exercises of Russia and Belarus West-2017, Polish ambassador to the US Petr Wilczek stated.

The exercises West-2017 will be held in Belarus on September 14-20.

"Because of lack of transparency, we do not know much about these exercises. It is a danger for Ukraine in the first place, and for other countries, too." This is a potential threat. I don’t want to say that something will happen, a kind of an attack or a provocation against NATO members, but nevertheless there is an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, to a large extend associated with (the exercises) West, –Wilczek said, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in the United States, RIA Novosti reports.

Earlier, a number of NATO countries expressed concern about the upcoming exercises. Thus, the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania prepared a report on threats to national security and it found the exercises West-2017 especially dangerous. The Ministry of Defense of Estonia also did not exclude the incidents during the exercises.