Belarus voting for nuclear weapon is greatly worrying: European Union

Voters in Belarus have approved constitutional
reforms that will allow the country to host nuclear weapons at a time when the
former Soviet republic has become a launchpad for Russian troops invading
Ukraine. Following the vote, European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep
Borrell termed it “greatly worrying” move by the country’s strongman leader
Alexander Lukashenko.

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The referendum to strip Belarus of non-nuclear status
received 65 % votes, according to official data. And it will pave the way for
nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil for the first time since the country gave
them up after the fall of the Soviet Union.

This came at a time when Lukashenko has fallen in
line behind Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military assault on Ukraine
after earlier playing an intermediary role between the two neighbours.

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“Yesterday’s constitutional referendum in
Belarus was orchestrated by Lukashenko to gain additional tools to further
consolidate his power,” Borrell tweeted. “The deletion of Article 18
on Belarus’ non-nuclear status is greatly worrying.”

The agencies said voter turnout stood at 78.63 %.
The result came as little surprise, given the tightly controlled rule of
President Alexander Lukashenko.

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Putin on Sunday ordered Russian nuclear deterrent
forces be put on high alert in a dramatic escalation of tensions with the West.

Speaking at a polling station on Sunday, Lukashenko
said that he will ask Russia to return nuclear weapons to Belarus.

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“If you [the West] transfer nuclear weapons to
Poland or Lithuania, to our borders, then I will turn to Putin to return the
nuclear weapons that I gave away without any conditions,” Lukashenko said.

The constitutional referendum shedding Belarus’s
non-nuclear status opens the way for stronger military cooperation with Russia,
which deployed forces to Belarusian territory under the pretext of military
drills and then sent them rolling into Ukraine as part of the invasion that
began on Thursday.

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The reforms also cement Lukashenko’s 27-year-old
grip on power as they allow the president to stay in power until 2035 and give
him lifetime immunity from prosecution once he leaves office.