Ongoing hybrid war focused on Belarusian economy, defense minister says

The primary assault of the hybrid war that has been launched against Belarus is focused on the country's economy. Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin made the statement during the plenary session of the 9th Moscow Conference on International Security on 23 June, BelTA has learned. According to Viktor Khrenin, hybrid warfare tools are used against Belarus. “The key assault is focused on economy and on everything that generates money,” he said. “Fight for control over financial flows is in progress. Economic sanctions, protectionist measures, unfair competition – anything goes. For instance, the recent incident involving an aircraft of the Irish air carrier Ryanair was used to reduce Belarus' transit potential, ruin a Belarusian air carrier and an aerial navigation system.” According to the Belarusian defense minister, the deployment of U.S. troops in European countries allows one to assume these countries have been occupied. “Judging by the logic of the occupation of European countries by America, we can understand their reaction to sovereign actions of the Republic of Belarus,” the official stated. “The national pride of European countries has been probably slighted: these countries have no such right to sovereignty in conditions of the virtual occupation. This is why the desire to make the small country of Belarus a pariah and destroy it was born.” Taking part in the 9th Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS 2021) are defense ministers, chiefs of general staffs, delegations of defense ministries from 109 countries as well as representatives of international organizations – the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the United Nations Organization (UN), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the League of Arab States. Participants of the conference are expected to discuss problems of global and regional stability, various aspects of security in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.