world
July 30, 2021 – 23:27

The authoritarian president of Belarus said on Friday that he was ready to invite Russian troops to the country if necessary to ensure the security of Belarus and Russia.

But Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko added that at the moment “there is no need” for such a thing.

In his comments to the state-run Belta news agency, Lukashenko stressed that he had faced last year’s anti-government protests without engaging other countries’ armed forces, but added that he would not hesitate to bring in Russian troops if this were to happen. to be necessary.

According to the Belta news agency, Lukashenko said Belarus was able to deploy 500,000 troops quickly, but “if they are not enough, all the Russian armed forces will be deployed. If necessary, we will not hesitate. “

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow had not received any formal request from Belarus to deploy troops and that “this is possible only after an official request from the leadership of a country to the leadership of our country”.

Russia and Belarus have close military and defense ties. Two Russian radar stations communicating with nuclear submarines in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and parts of the Pacific are located in Belarus. In September, the two former Soviet countries planned to conduct joint large-scale military exercises.

Until recently, Mr Lukashenko’s government had resisted Moscow ‘s efforts to expand its military presence in Belarus and rejected requests to open an air base and deploy additional troops to the country.

But after the political crisis that erupted in Belarus and was accompanied by massive protests following Lukashenko’s re-election for a sixth term in August 2020, Russia promised military support to its neighbor and a $ 1.5 billion loan to the collapsed economy. of Belarus.

The United States and the European Union have imposed a number of sanctions targeting the Belarusian leadership and key sectors of its economy following protests against manipulation of last year’s presidential election.

Belarusian political analyst Valery Karbalevich told the Associated Press news agency that Lukashenko’s statements on Friday were a clear attempt to intimidate the West.

“For the first time, he threatened to deploy Russian troops in Belarus. However, the Kremlin is in no hurry to support these initiatives,” Karbalevich said.

Mr Lukashenko has accused the West of trying to orchestrate a revolution in the country he ruled with an iron fist for decades and of plotting a coup, including pressure on Belarus with sanctions. His electoral rival fled to Lithuania, and Lithuanian officials say authorities in Belarus are now loading the Lithuanian border with migrants to put pressure on the EU country.

According to the human rights center Viasna, Belarusian authorities in recent weeks have stepped up pressure on NGOs and independent media, carrying out more than 200 raids on the offices and apartments of activists and journalists this month alone.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists said raids and detentions targeting journalists continued on Friday in Minsk and other cities. Earlier this week, authorities announced the Belsat television channel, funded by the palakas, an extremist group.

A total of 28 Belarusian journalists remain in custody, awaiting trial or serving prison sentences. Journalists’ associations on Thursday demanded that authorities provide urgent hospital care for a well-known journalist, who is in custody. / voa

The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, and the Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, visited the October 1 hall to see closely the preparations for the start of mass vaccination, which will begin next week. At the same time, they expressed their gratitude to the Ministry of Health and health personnel for providing vaccines and the vaccination process.

Minister Vitia informed that so far close to 100 thousand vaccinated citizens, there have been no serious side effects and that vaccines are safe and this process is going according to plan.

According to the announcement of the Ministry of Health, during this visit, the President and the Speaker of the Assembly were vaccinated with the first dose of vaccine against COVID-19 in accordance with the vaccination plan of the Ministry of Health.

“President Osmani, on this occasion has instructed all citizens to respond to the invitation for vaccination of the Ministry of Health as soon as mass vaccination begins. Vaccines are safe and only through vaccination and adherence to the measures, we will be able to return to normal by defeating the COVID-19 virus. According to her, the vaccine should be understood as a responsibility, because they create security and enable the economic recovery of the country from the consequences of the pandemic. Even the head of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, has invited citizens to get the vaccine, because it is the best solution against COVID-19. “According to him, vaccination also facilitates the state, because it becomes possible to open, restore normalcy, but also general stability”, it is said in the announcement.

Acting Chairman of the PDK Enver Hoxhaj met today with the First Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia Artan Grubin, on which occasion they called for more migrants to be registered in the civil registry of the population of this country, a process that began on March 1 of this year.

Hoxhaj in a press conference called on the entire Albanian diaspora from the Balkans to support the civil registration process in Northern Macedonia.

He said that the registration of citizens in Northern Macedonia is of great political importance for the future of Albanians in this country.

“This is not a technical process, it is a very important political process, which is not about a short-term decision-making in Northern Macedonia, but about the future of Northern Macedonia. Therefore, I want to invite on behalf of PDK all Albanians living in different parts of the world who are from Northern Macedonia, to take an active part in the civil registration, to see how many Albanians live abroad, and above all, to show as Albanians that we are, that we are in the Balkans as it is the German factor in Europe “, said Hoxhaj.

According to him, the process of civil registration of the population in Northern Macedonia and the organization of a joint meeting of the Government of Kosovo and that of Northern Macedonia are vital for Albanians.

He called on the incoming government to initiate a meeting between the two governments, as this, according to him, would have an impact on political cooperation, defense and security, as well as economic development.

“This would have a great impact on political cooperation, security, defense, economic development, but above all in terms of inter-fraternal cooperation between Pristina, Skopje and Tetovo,” said Hoxhaj.

The First Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia Artan Grubi said that so far they have exceeded the number of 72 thousand citizens registered by the diaspora, while adding that they expect help to increase this number to 200 thousand.

According to Grub, increasing the numbers of Albanians in northern Macedonia is vital to their future.

As for the meeting between the two governments, he said they are looking forward to holding it in order to realize 15 bilateral agreements, which are expected to be signed.

“The increase in numbers is vital for the implementation of the vital rights for the implementation of the political rights of the Albanians in Northern Macedonia. We also talked about a long-standing initiative of Hoxhaj, which is to hold a joint meeting of our two governments. There are over 15 bilateral agreements waiting to be signed, since the time when Hoxhaj was Deputy Prime Minister, and we can not wait for the formation of the new government in Kosovo to implement those agreements, starting with the removal of the border between us in Blace, and in Bellanica “, said Grubi.

Artan Grubi is staying today in Kosovo, where during the day he is expected to hold meetings with the presidents of other political entities.