VILNIUS (dpa-AFX) – After the uprising of the Russian private army Wagner against the leadership in Moscow, Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda calls for a further strengthening of NATO’s eastern flank. If Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ends up in exile in Belarus with unclear intentions, the security of the eastern border must be increased, said the head of state of the Baltic EU and NATO country on Sunday. “I’m not just talking about Lithuania here, but about NATO as a whole,” said Nauseda, according to Lithuanian radio. Lithuania borders Belarus and the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.
“We are dealing with a large state, a nuclear state, and any internal unrest inevitably has consequences for the security of the surrounding states,” Nauseda said, referring to Russia. So far, he has had no information confirming that the Wagner boss is already in Belarus. He announced that Lithuania would in future deploy more intelligence capabilities to assess the “political and security aspects” of the situation in Belarus.
This Monday, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is in Vilnius for a meeting with Nauseda to prepare for the NATO summit on July 11 and 12 in the Lithuanian capital. One of the most important issues is the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Stoltenberg also wants to organize an exercise with Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD). armed forces watch with the Lithuanian army.
After his failed uprising at the weekend, Prigozhin was allowed to go to Belarus with impunity, the Kremlin said. On Sunday, however, it was still unclear whether Prigozhin was already on his way to the neighboring country, which is closely allied with Russia./awe/DP/zb