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Wagner unnerves the Baltic countries

2023-06-30 15:23:34, Kosova & Bota CNA

The fallout from the failed rebellion of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and his exile in Belarus has unnerved the Baltic countries. During the NATO high-level meeting in July, the alliance is expected to expand its agenda beyond Ukraine. VOA White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports.

It is still unclear how many of Wagner's soldiers will accompany Yevgeny Prigozhin to Belarus after the mercenary flu chief rebelled against Moscow. But the fact that they can be located very close to the Baltic countries has caused concern among these countries.

"If Wagner deploys his forces, which are like serial killers, in Belarus, all neighboring countries face an even greater danger. In such circumstances, prevention and protection is a top priority," said the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Naus?da.

In July, a high-level meeting of NATO is organized in Vilnius, Lithuania, just 35 km from the border from the new Prigozhin base, emphasizing the urgency to strengthen the eastern wing of the alliance. Germany immediately announced that it would station 4,000 permanent troops in Lithuania.

"He is losing the war in the country. And it's become a little weird around the world."

President Joe Biden said Russian leader Vladimir Putin had been weakened by his clash with Prigozhin, making the threat posed by Russia and its ally Belarus a key issue at the Vilnius meeting.

"What happens to the nuclear arsenal if Russia is unstable? What if you have someone more warmongering than Putin coming to power in Russia and perhaps less unpredictable? These are questions that NATO itself must answer", says Kristine Berzina with the German Marshall Fund.

NATO leaders must also decide what security guarantees they will give Kiev.

"We will also agree on a multi-year program to help Ukraine move closer to NATO, to have full interoperability with NATO," Secretary Stoltenberg said.

Another key element is the increase in defense spending.

Only seven of NATO's 30 member states reached the target of spending 2% of GDP on defense in 2022./ VOA