Warsaw:

China is staging army drills with Belarus this week at NATO’s eastern border, in a sign of escalating tensions between Beijing and the US-led defence alliance.

The joint “antiterrorist” exercises on Russian ally Belarus’s soil near the Polish border come as NATO leaders gather for a summit in Washington, with the war in nearby Ukraine high on their agenda.

With relations between NATO on the one hand and China and Russia on the other at a low ebb, analysts believe that Beijing wanted to send the alliance a warning message with the timing of the drills.

Sino-Belarusian exercises have taken place before, but this is the first time since Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine, a NATO ally, in February 2022.

The exercises began July 8 in Brest, a city right on the border with Poland, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Chinese defence ministry.

The statement said the manoeuvres will last until mid-July, but did not give the exact number of Chinese soldiers involved.

Both sides are working to “improve combat techniques and deepen cooperation and communication between the two armies”, the statement added.

Chinese diplomatic officials insisted that the exercises were “not aimed at any country in particular”.

But Poland’s defence ministry slammed the timing of the exercises.

It warned of “the risk of the operations in question being used for disinformation and propaganda purposes… to coincide with the NATO summit”.

However small in scale, the exercises still involve China deploying troops on NATO’s doorstep, and to a country Russia used as a launchpad for its invasion of Ukraine.

And the exercises come as Beijing, one of Moscow’s key partners is also experiencing increasingly tense relations with NATO.

Strategic signal 

Analysts believe that the date and location of the exercises were not chosen by chance, arguing that China wanted to send NATO a message.

“Multilateral exercises are often used to send political signals,” Kelly Grieco of the Stimson Center foreign policy and defence think tank told AFP.

Indeed, she argues that when it comes to military drills, “it’s much more about political signal more than for the exercise itself”.

She points out that China had already carried out anti-terrorism exercises in Belarus four times between 2011 and 2018, but had not done so since.

That they are taking place “that close to the border is part of the signalling” too, she added.

Countries often organise their joint exercises to coincide with developments abroad — not least of them China, added Alice Ekman, senior analyst for Asia at the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS).

“In April 2023, the Chinese held exercises with Russia in the East China Sea, close to Japanese islands, on the eve of a trilateral US-Japan-South Korea summit to signal their opposition to such a summit being held,” Ekman told AFP.

Similarly, China staged military manoeuvres in the South China Sea in May 2024 as the US-Japan-Philippines-Australia meeting was in full swing, she added.

As well as moving closer to Russia, China is becoming increasingly hostile to NATO.

It accuses NATO of working to contain China at Washington’s instigation, with Beijing worried about the alliance’s expanding role in the Asia-Pacific region.

Moreover, China has never forgiven the bombing of its embassy in Belgrade by a NATO plane in 1999.

It also believes that the alliance has already overstepped its geographical sphere of influence in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.

NATO is perceived by China as “clearly hostile for historical reasons”, Ekman said.

But those reasons were becoming “increasingly strategic as the threat from China becomes an integral part of the organisation’s strategic thinking”, she added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

In a shocking incident, a woman died after she was chased by a bear in Slovakia, as per a report in BBC. The 31-year-old from Belarus was walking with a male friend when they were set upon by the animal. 

According to the officials at Slovak Mountain Rescue Service, the woman’s body was recovered from the forest in Slovakia’s Low Tatras mountains, which has deep ravines and dense woodland.

As per the report, both the man and the woman ran off in separate directions. The two were allegedly being chased while strolling in the Demanovska Valley, according to Slovak officials. A search dog discovered the woman’s body shortly after her partner sought assistance. 

When officials discovered her body, the bear was close and had to be driven away by repeated bullets fired by the Mountain Rescue Service. However, it remains unclear whether the woman was killed by the wild animal or died due to a fall. 

Though brown bears are widespread throughout eastern and northeastern Europe, they are mostly found in the Carpathian Mountains, which cut through Romania, Slovakia, Poland, and Ukraine. 

There are reportedly 1,275 bears in Slovakia, according to researchers. The nation has seen an increase in bear attacks, with one of the deadliest in over a century occurring in 2021.

The country’s brown bear population is a contentious political issue since Slovakia’s recently elected populist nationalist government wishes less environmental protection from the European Union for wolves and bears, among other predators.

Environmental organisations, including the Slovak Wildlife Society and the World Wildlife Fund, have opposed any proposals to reduce the number of brown bears in the nation.

New Delhi:

Joining the chorus for reforms in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik, who is currently on a visit to India, said Minsk would support India’s call for a permanent seat in the world body.

Addressing a media briefing in the national capital on Wednesday, the Belarussian Foreign Minister stressed the urgency for reforms in the UNSC, adding, “We (Belarus) also discussed this issue and are convinced that UNSC reforms should be facilitated. It is a long-lasting issue which is being discussed within the UN, taking into account the very fragile situation in the world today.”

“We also expressed ourselves during the 78th Session of the General Assembly and in our official statement during the 78 Session of the General Assembly, we made it very clear that we would support the accession of India to the Security Council,” he added.

Speaking on his meeting with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, Aleinik said, “We share views towards creating a more just, fair, and multipolar world order. We also hold the same views on the principles of international relations. So the core principles are equality of states and, the balance of interests of each and every country.”

“We also touched upon our cooperation in the SCO, as well as BRICS, and expressed our appreciation for the support that India extended to our application for full-fledged membership in the SCO,” Belarussian FM added on his sit-down with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar.

He said India was the first country to ratify the memorandum on Belarus’ accession to the SCO, adding that he also discussed Belarus’ membership of the BRICS during his talks with the EAM.

The two leaders also discussed regional and global issues, affirming to work towards further enhancing bilateral cooperation between India and Belarus to a ‘strategic partnership’ level, he added.

“We touched upon BRICS because Belarus also applied for full-fledged membership of the grouping. We look forward to positive consideration by the growing number of member states of BRICS since the last summit in Johannesburg,” Aleinik said.

He stated further that his country’s accession to the SCO is in its final stage and they are hopeful of ‘complete accession’ in the coming months.

On BRICS membership, he said they are expecting some positive developments in the forthcoming summit in Astana, Kazakhstan in October this year.

Earlier, on Tuesday, EAM Jaishankar held discussions with his Belarusian counterpart on bilateral ties, including development partnerships in the field of defence. The two leaders delved into various facets encompassing political, trade, and economic dimensions.

On his India visit, the Belarusian Foreign Minister held meetings with prominent leaders and ministers, holding discussions on boosting ties between the two countries across sectors and spheres.

His visit, which started on March 11 and is scheduled to culminate on March 13, aims at strengthening bilateral ties.

Aleinik’s departure is scheduled for Wednesday night, marking the conclusion of his brief yet pivotal diplomatic mission to India, the Ministry of External Affairs stated in a release.

Mr Jaishankar last met his counterpart from Belarus in the Ugandan capital Kampala on January 19 on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit.

During the meeting, Mr Jaishankar and his Belarusian counterpart held discussions on developments related to the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Polls opened on February 25 in Belarus’ tightly controlled parliamentary and local elections that are set to cement the steely rule of the country’s authoritarian leader, despite calls for a boycott from the opposition, which dismissed the balloting as a “senseless farce.”

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for nearly 30 years, accuses the West of trying to use the vote to undermine his government and “destabilize” the nation of 9.5 million people.

Most candidates belong to the four officially registered parties: Belaya Rus, the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Party of Labor and Justice. Those parties all support Lukashenko’s policies. About a dozen other parties were denied registration last year.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is in exile in neighboring Lithuania after challenging Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, urged voters to boycott the elections.

“There are no people on the ballot who would offer real changes because the regime only has allowed puppets convenient for it to take part,” Ms. Tsikhanouskaya said in a video statement. “We are calling to boycott this senseless farce, to ignore this election without choice.”

Sunday’s balloting is the first election in Belarus since the contentious 2020 vote that handed Mr. Lukashenko his sixth term in office and triggered an unprecedented wave of mass demonstrations.

Protests swept the country for months, bringing hundreds of thousands into the streets. More than 35,000 people were arrested. Thousands were beaten in police custody, and hundreds of independent media outlets and nongovernmental organizations were shut down and outlawed.

Mr. Lukashenko has relied on subsidies and political support from his main ally, Russia, to survive the protests. He allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

The election takes place amid a relentless crackdown on dissent. Over 1,400 political prisoners remain behind bars, including leaders of opposition parties and renowned human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.

The opposition says the early balloting that began Tuesday offers fertile ground for the vote to be manipulated, with ballot boxes unprotected for five days. Election officials said Sunday that over 40% of the country’s voters cast ballots during the five days of early voting. Turnout stood at 43.64% by 9 a.m. on Sunday, an hour after polls formally opened, according to the Belarusian Central Election Commission.

The Viasna Human Rights Center said students, soldiers, teachers and other civil servants were forced to participate in early voting.

“Authorities are using all available means to ensure the result they need — from airing TV propaganda to forcing voters to cast ballots early,” said Viasna representative Pavel Sapelka. “Detentions, arrests and searches are taking place during the vote.”

Speaking during Tuesday’s meeting with top Belarusian law enforcement officials, Lukashenko alleged without offering evidence that Western countries were pondering plans to stage a coup in the country or to try to seize power by force. He ordered police to beef up armed patrols across Belarus, declaring that “it’s the most important element of ensuring law and order.”

After the vote, Belarus is set to form a new state body — the 1,200-seat All-Belarus Popular Assembly that will include top officials, local legislators, union members, pro-government activists and others. It will have broad powers, including the authority to consider constitutional amendments and to appoint election officials and judges.

Mr. Lukashenko was believed a few years ago to be considering whether to lead the new body after stepping down, but his calculus has apparently changed, and now few observers expect him to step down after his current term ends next year.

For the first time, curtains were removed from voting booths at polling stations, and voters were banned from taking pictures of their ballots. During the 2020 election, activists encouraged voters to photograph their ballots in a bid to prevent authorities from manipulating the vote in Mr. Lukashenko’s favor.

Belarusian state TV aired footage of Interior Ministry drills in which police detained a purported offender who was photographing his ballot and others who created an artificial queue outside a polling station.

Belarus for the first time also refused to invite observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to monitor the election. Belarus is a member of the OSCE, a top trans-Atlantic security and rights group, and its monitors have been the only international observers at Belarusian elections for decades.

Since 1995, not a single election in Belarus has been recognized as free and fair by the OSCE.

The OSCE said the decision not to allow the agency’s monitors deprived the country of a “comprehensive assessment by an international body.”

“The human rights situation in Belarus continues to deteriorate as those who voice dissent or stand up for the human rights of others are subject to investigation, persecution and frequently prosecution,” it said in a statement.

Observers noted that authorities have not even tried to pretend that the vote is democratic.

The election offers the government an opportunity to run a “systems test after massive protests and a serious shock of the last presidential election and see whether it works,” said Artyom Shraibman, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. “The parliament will be sterile after the opposition and all alternative voices were barred from campaigning. It’s important for authorities to erase any memory of the protests.”

The Nobel Foundation has withdrawn its invitation for representatives of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremonies after the decision to invite them “provoked strong reactions.” File
| Photo Credit: AP

The Nobel Foundation said on Saturday it was reversing its decision to invite Ambassadors from Russia and Belarus to this year’s Nobel award ceremony in Stockholm, after the move sparked a backlash.

In 2022, the Nobel Foundation, which organises the annual Nobel prize ceremony and banquet in Stockholm, decided not to invite the Russian and Belarusian Ambassadors to the Stockholm award event because of the war in Ukraine.

They made the same decision regarding the Iranian envoy over the country’s crackdown on a wave of protests.

The Swedish foundation however said on Thursday it was returning to its previous practice of inviting Ambassadors from all countries represented in Sweden, sparking a wave of angry reactions.

The foundation said on Saturday that the decision was based on its belief “that it is important and right to reach out as widely as possible with the values and messages that the Nobel Prize stands for.”

It noted however that the strong reactions “completely overshadowed this message”.

“We, therefore, choose to repeat last year’s exception to regular practice — that is, to not invite the Ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to the Nobel Prize award ceremony in Stockholm,” the foundation said in a statement.

Also Read: Russia declares Nobel-winning editor Dmitry Muratov to be a foreign agent

Last year, the Norwegian Nobel Institute still invited all Ambassadors to the Peace Prize ceremony it organises in Oslo, and the foundation said this would be the case again.

“As before, all Ambassadors will be invited to the ceremony in Oslo,” it noted.

The decision to once again invite the Russian and Belarusian representatives sparked ire in Sweden and abroad.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook that the foundation should support efforts to isolate Russia and Belarus as “millions of Ukrainians suffer from an unprovoked war and the Russian regime is not punished for its crimes”.

On Saturday, Mr. Nikolenko called the reversal a “victory for humanism.”

“We thank everyone who demanded the restoration of justice. We are convinced that a similar decision should be made regarding the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors to Oslo,” he said in another post to Facebook.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also said on Friday he disagreed with the Foundation’s decision.

“I would not have done it if I were handling invites to an award ceremony and I understand that it upsets many people in both Sweden and Ukraine,” he said in a written statement to AFP.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr. Kristersson on Saturday welcomed the new decision.

“The many and strong reactions show that the whole of Sweden unambiguously stand on Ukraine’s side against Russia’s appalling war of aggression,” Mr. Kristersson said.

Several prominent Swedish politicians, including the leaders of the Centre, Green, Left and Liberal parties, had said they would boycott the event over the Russian Ambassador’s presence.

The glitzy event is held each year in Stockholm on December 10 when laureates in the fields of medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and economics receive their awards from King Carl XVI Gustaf.

A separate ceremony is held in Oslo on the same day for the Peace Prize laureate.