(Reuters) -Belarusian counter-intelligence agents have arrested a Polish national on suspicion of espionage for having in his possession documents related to forthcoming Belarusian-Russian military
Polish Citizen Detained in Belarus for Alleged Espionage Activities
Details of the Espionage Case
(Reuters) -Belarus has arrested a Polish national on suspicion of espionage for having documents related to forthcoming Belarusian-Russian military exercises, media quoted state television as reporting on Thursday.
Background of Belarus-Poland Relations
Poland said the move was a provocation that would receive a response.
Implications of the Arrest
The Belarusian state Belta news agency, quoting Belarus-1 television, reported that agents from the state security service detained the man in the city of Lepel, east of the capital Minsk. A Belarusian national was also detained.
Reactions from Polish Officials
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is one of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's closest allies and allowed Moscow to use his country's territory for the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, though he has said Belarusian servicemen will take no part in it.
Belta said the Polish suspect had in his possession a copy of a document outlining the Zapad-25 exercises due to take place this month. He also had Belarusian and foreign cash and a portable telephone SIM-card registered to someone else.
"There is irrefutable evidence of the Polish citizen's espionage activities," Belta said. "A few minutes before his arrest, he received a secret military document. All of this was captured on video."
Belta said he had been trying to recruit the Belarusian national in his company and offered him money and small gifts.
The arrest was "another provocation by the Lukashenko regime aimed at our country," Jacek Dobrzynski, a spokesperson for the coordinator of Poland's special services, said on X.
Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki said on the private television TVN24 that the arrest was probably related to the upcoming Zapad military exercises.
The Belarusian actions would be met with a reaction from Poland, he added, but did not provide details.
Belarus and Poland have long had strained relations over a number of issues related to Lukashenko's support for Russia in the Ukraine conflict and his crackdowns on dissent.
The Zapad exercises, held every two years in either Belarus or Russia, are viewed with interest by Western countries because of Belarus's proximity to three neighbours that are part of the NATO alliance - Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.
Lukashenko, in office since 1994, has drawn closer to Putin in recent years, particularly after receiving the Kremlin's backing during major 2020 street protests by demonstrators accusing him of rigging his re-election to a fifth term.
Russia has moved tactical nuclear weapons from its own borders into Belarus.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Stephen Coates)
