Lithuania has summoned Belarus's Charge d'Affaires and handed him a note of protest over controversial statements by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka regarding the Baltic states. This was reported by UNN with reference to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry.
Details
On Friday, March 29, Charge d'Affaires of Belarus Yaroslav Khmyl was summoned to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry and handed a note of protest in connection with Lukashenka's threats against Lithuania.
The Foreign Ministry emphasized that Lukashenka groundlessly accuses Lithuania of "creating a military threat" and calls on the Belarusian army to prepare for confrontation with the Baltic states and Poland.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania notes that such statements can be regarded as a further escalation of the aggressive foreign policy of the Belarusian authorities and are completely unacceptable... The Ministry of Foreign Affairs demands that Belarus immediately provide official explanations for Lukashenko's statement and reiterates that Lithuania will take all possible measures to guarantee its security, sovereignty and territorial integrity
Context
The day before, on March 26, the Belarusian president conducted a "surprise inspection of the combat capability" of Belarusian troops on the northwestern border in the Hrodna region.
They (Poland and Lithuania - ed.) are constantly talking about the Suwalki corridor, how many kilometers to the territory of Russia? It's a waste of time for them to do so
Lukashenka ordered to be prepared for a military confrontation, adding that in the event of a war, Belarus would "grab" a piece of Poland. At the same time, he assured that Minsk and Russia have no intention of attacking Lithuania, and that they are "building a defense system" on the border.
Recall
During a trip to the border regions, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said that violators of the state border should be destroyed.