In an interview with the Russian news agency Sputnik, the diplomat reiterated Minsk’s rejection of the expansion of the Alliance, “whether it expands to the east, to the south or to the west.”

“The expansion of NATO, which has lost its defensive nature after the demise of the Warsaw Pact, is a strategic mistake,” Glaz said.

The spokesman for the Foreign Ministry argued that this process “undermines the principle of indivisible security, leads to the emergence of new dividing lines on the European continent and to the escalation of political and military tensions.”

Glaz’s statements respond to the new determination of the leaders of the member states of the bloc, announced on June 29th, to officially invite Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance, after which the 30 allies will begin the ratification process.

The Government of Belarus has reiterated that the approach of the transatlantic alliance to the borders of its country and Russia in the midst of the current conflict between Moscow and Kiev, far from helping, intensifies insecurity in Europe.

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