NATO no 'excuse' for Belarus violence against protesters

BERLIN: The head of NATO on Wednesday warned Belarus not to use the alliance as an "excuse" for violence against opposition protesters.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg repeated that NATO was not building up forces near Belarus, contrary to claims made by embattled strongman President Alexander Lukashenko.

"We see attempts to use NATO as an excuse for cracking down on demonstrators, on political opposition in Belarus, which is absolutely wrong because there is no military build-up by NATO in the region," the former Norwegian prime minister said as he arrived for talks with EU defence ministers in Berlin.

"Any attempt by the regime in Minsk to shift the focus from domestic issues to external issues to create an excuse for using violence against their own people is not acceptable, and it's wrong and it's unjustified."

Demonstrators have daily flooded the streets of the ex-Soviet republic demanding Lukashenko's resignation since he claimed a sixth term in disputed elections on August 9.

The authoritarian president, often dubbed "Europe's last dictator", has used his security services to try to disperse protesters in a brutal crackdown condemned by international leaders.

At the weekend he said NATO troops in neighbouring Poland and Lithuania -- both alliance members -- were "seriously stirring".

Both countries and NATO all firmly denied the claim.