Belarus Expresses Concern Over Increased Military Exercises on NATO's Eastern Flank

Minsk (ANTARA) - Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Sekreta has expressed his country’s concern over the increasing number of military exercises on NATO’s eastern flank.

“We are very concerned about the increasing number of military exercises on NATO’s eastern flank,” Sekreta said on Monday during a virtual international roundtable titled “Militarisation of Europe,” held at the OSCE headquarters in Vienna.

The deputy minister noted that more than 600 exercises involving 600,000 personnel were conducted in the European part of the continent last year, including over 250 exercises involving more than 170,000 personnel in Poland and the Baltic states.

“These manoeuvres, carried out with unprecedented intensity, cover all strategic directions, from the Arctic and the Baltic to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean,” he added.

According to him, countless exercises are ongoing at the national level.

In particular, Belarus highlighted the “Brave Boar 2026” exercise, which took place from 16-26 June in the area known as the Suwalki Gap.

The exercise involved troops from Poland, Lithuania, and France, “as well as French and Polish plans to conduct a joint air force exercise simulating attacks on targets in the territory of Belarus and Russia.”