Lukashenko Says Belarus Is in Peril as Army Trains for Invasion

   (Bloomberg) --- Belarus’s future is at risk as its neighbours reel from economic and currency crises,

according to President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

   “We should be fearing for the normal life of our people, the existence of our country,” Lukashenko said in Minsk after appointing new government officials, according to his press service. While the economic situation isn’t yet critical, the government has its work cut out for it to avoid further deterioration, said Lukashenko, who has ruled the nation of 9.5 million people for two decades.

   Collapsing demand in Russia, the destination for half of Belarusian exports, has “seriously” affected the Belarusian economy, forcing the country to seek new markets for its products, Lukashenko said. Contagion from the Russian ruble’s worst crisis since 1998 has spilled into the rest of the former Soviet Union, putting pressure on currencies and choking trade.

   As economic strains are growing more acute, the conflict in neighboring Ukraine is also making Belarus more uneasy. Belarus, which borders both Ukraine and Russia, overhauled its legislation on martial law this year, allowing authorities to deem the appearance of unmarked irregular troops as “military invasion.”

   Soldiers without insignia were involved in events in Crimea last year that culminated in a disputed March referendum and the Black Sea peninsula’s takeover by Russia.

   Military drills on Tuesday near Osipovichy in central Belarus involved a helicopter detecting a hypothetical subversive group and destroying it with unguided rockets, the Defense Ministry said on its website.

   The European Union and the U.S. are threatening to tighten sanctions against Russia over its role in Ukraine. The government in Moscow denies involvement.