By Anthony German
THE HAGUE (Portal) – Eastern European NATO countries warned on Tuesday that a move of Wagner’s Russian mercenary troops to Belarus would lead to greater regional instability, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance stood ready to defend itself against any threat.
“If Wagner uses his serial killers in Belarus, there is an even greater risk of instability for all neighboring countries,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said after a meeting in The Hague with Stoltenberg and heads of government from six other NATO allies.
“This is really serious and very worrying and we have to make very strong decisions. It requires a very, very tough response from NATO,” added Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on Tuesday as part of a deal negotiated by President Alexander Lukashenko that ended the mercenary mutiny in Russia on Saturday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wagner’s fighters would be offered a choice to relocate there.
NATO’s Stoltenberg said it was too early to tell what that might mean for NATO allies, stressing the increased defenses of the alliance’s eastern flank in recent years.
“We sent a clear message to Moscow and Minsk that NATO is there to protect every ally, every inch of NATO territory,” Stoltenberg said.
“We have already increased our military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance and will make further decisions at the upcoming summit to further strengthen our collective defense with more forces and more capabilities.”
Stoltenberg said the mutiny showed that Putin’s “illegal war” against Ukraine deepened divisions in Russia.
“At the same time, we must not underestimate Russia. It is all the more important that we continue to support Ukraine.”
Poland’s Duda said he hopes the threat from Wagner forces will be on the agenda of a July 11-12 summit of all 31 NATO members in Vilnius, Lithuania.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)