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By Thomas Kika
Weekend Staff Writer
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A leading government official in Belarus, a major ally to Russia and its President Vladimir Putin, said recently that the country would have "every reason" to launch an attack against Lithuania, its neighbor to the northwest and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
A former Soviet Union republic, Belarus has remained a staunch ally of Russia throughout the decades, holding membership in its NATO-alternative intergovernmental military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and offering extensive aid during Moscow's prolonged invasion of Ukraine. While Belarusian troops have not been deployed into the war-torn country, Belarus has allowed Russian forces to make use of its land for strategic purposes.
On Tuesday, Pavel Muraveiko, First Deputy State Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council, spoke at an "ideological seminar" held in the capital city of Minsk, as was first reported by the Evening Minsk, an independent Belarusian newspaper. At the event, Muraveiko discussed the current situation brewing between Belarus and Lithuania, a member of NATO since March 2004.
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As laid out in a Sunday report from Ukrainska Pravda, Lithuania has recently begun imposing travel sanctions against Belarus. This has included the closure of certain border crossings and ceasing to issue tourist visas to Belarusian travelers. This, Muraveiko claimed on Tuesday, has resulted in a stifling of transit between the two nations. While not mentioned in his speech, Ukrainska Pravda's report noted that Lithuania provides the most direct path from Belarus to Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian territory on the Baltic Sea, situated between Poland and Lithuania.
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Muraveiko asserted that, in response to this transportation shutdown, Belarus should have "every right" to use force against Lithuania.
"Lithuania has effectively banned us from moving our goods across the border. Under all norms of international law, such a step is considered economic aggression," the Belarusian official said. "From the point of view of basic logic, we have every reason to use the force of arms to break through a corridor that is vital for us."
In response to an inquiry from Newsweek, the press office of the Lithuanian government directed to a statement that issued "a strong protest over the threatening remarks made by" Muraveiko.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania notes that such statements could be interpreted as an open threat to attack Lithuania and are entirely unacceptable," the statement read. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania has requested that Belarus immediately provide an official explanation of the statement made by the First Deputy State Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council and reminded that Lithuania would take all possible measures to ensure the country's security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity."
Should Belarus launch any sort of military action against Belarus, the situation could escalate rapidly, on account of the nation's NATO membership. Article 5 of NATO states that an attack against one member nation is an attack against all, and that the other members shall provide military assistance to the member under attack. A similar provision also exists in Russia and Belarus' CSTO agreement.
Updated 10/31/2023, 12:03 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include a response from the Lithuanian government.
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