Belarus’ parliament voted on Wednesday to suspend the country’s participation in the European Conventional Forces Agreement, once an important security principle for the continent. The agreement is a 1990 agreement that was abandoned by Russia last year.
The bill, introduced by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko earlier this month, could pave the way for Belarus, Russia’s ally in the Ukraine war, to expand its military. Belarusian lawmakers unanimously approved a bill calling for the suspension of the treaty. Lukashenko now needs to sign the bill into law.
The treaty, signed in 1990, sets limits on the tanks, combat vehicles, fighter jets, and heavy weapons that can be deployed in Europe. It aimed to maintain a military balance between the Western powers and the countries that were part of the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War.
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However, Russia completely withdrew from the treaty in November 2023, and other NATO states responded by suspending their participation just hours later.
This Belarusian Presidential Press Office photo shows Alexander Lukashenko speaking at a New Year’s Eve charity event at the Palace of the Republic in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, December 28, 2023. (Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP)
Belarus has Russian tactical nuclear weapons, along with missiles and military forces. The country is used by Russia as a base for sending troops into Ukraine, but Belarusian troops have not taken part in the war, which is now in its third year.
According to the Belarusian Ministry of Defense, the treaty stipulates that the Belarusian armed forces and personnel must not exceed 100,000 troops. Currently, the Belarusian army has 63,000 troops and personnel, with about 300,000 in reserves.
Belarus, which borders Ukraine, NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, will be able to expand its military and accumulate more weapons after suspending its participation in the treaty, military experts said. However, he says this is not certain. happen.
Alexander Aleshin, a military analyst based in Belarus’ capital Minsk, told The Associated Press that Russia’s dissatisfaction with Belarus’s still formal participation in the treaty was related to its withdrawal from the treaty. Ta.
“Russia was very unhappy,” Aleshin said. A withdrawal “will free Belarus, but this does not automatically mean an increase in the number of conventional weapons in the country.”
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He added: “Russia is deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which is even scarier for neighboring NATO countries.”
