Zapad 2013 raises questions

RIGA - On Sept. 24-25, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics continued his participation at the events of the 68th High Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly, meeting with foreign counterparts. In New York, Rinkevics drew attention to the negative impact of the Russian-Belarusian military exercise ‘Zapad 2013’on security in the Baltic and Nordic region.

On Sept. 26 Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Aleksander Lukashenko inspected personally the military exercise. The Baltic countries are concerned as to the magnitude of the operation on their borders. BELTA news agency announced that the main task of the Zapad2013 exercise is to close the landlocked Belarusian border against the terrorist groups, with Russian Navy. Note: Belarus is LANDLOCKED!