BELARUSTV — broadcast
20260818 193000 UTC
226 transcript segments
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[00:00:30] offered Sarah Wagenknecht to lead the Thuringian government,
[00:00:33] what's behind this? Why, in your opinion, did she
[00:00:36] refuse? In fact, it was a
[00:00:40] tactical invitation offer, the thing is
[00:00:43] that at one time, Sarah Wagenknecht, when her party
[00:00:46] was formed, she received enormous trust from voters,
[00:00:49] many voted for her party,
[00:00:53] but in the same Thuringia, when the
[00:00:56] previous parliamentary elections were held, the party unexpectedly... entered
[00:01:01] into a coalition with those systemic parties that
[00:01:04] she harshly criticized, even though she went
[00:01:08] to the elections with the slogans of the Alternative for Germany party, meaning everyone
[00:01:11] assumed that after the elections, the Alternative
[00:01:15] and Wagenknecht, they would form a coalition, and they actually
[00:01:18] had enough votes to form a ruling coalition, but unexpectedly she entered
[00:01:22] into a coalition with opponents, political opponents, and
[00:01:26] this alienated a huge number of voters from this party.
[00:01:30] Now Bjorn Höcke, who leads Alternative for
[00:01:33] Germany in Thuringia,
[00:01:35] proposes to break up the current coalition and
[00:01:39] for her to become prime minister, and
[00:01:43] Alternative for Germany would supposedly support her, realizing that
[00:01:46] she wouldn't do this, due to certain reasons, because
[00:01:50] they are already embroiled in this coalition,
[00:01:54] this tactical invitation, offer, it
[00:01:57] was immediately considered to be... substantial,
[00:02:01] of course, no one will break up the coalition there, despite the fact
[00:02:04] that, again, the current prime minister of Thuringia
[00:02:07] is accompanied by a series of scandals, not long ago his doctorate degree
[00:02:11] was revoked, which he obtained fraudulently, and
[00:02:15] even despite all these scandals,
[00:02:18] Wagenknecht's party remains in the coalition, all because of the
[00:02:22] ministerial portfolios that they received at the time, they
[00:02:25] bring in a very decent income,
[00:02:29] and... again, this shows the duplicity of Sarah
[00:02:33] Wagenknecht's party's policies, which promise one thing, but in practice, once in
[00:02:36] power, pursue the policies of those
[00:02:48] are forced to discuss today testifies to a very disturbing
[00:02:51] trend, chaos and problems have overwhelmed historical
[00:02:55] predators, they are already almost impossible to solve without
[00:02:58] a great reset. They are leading us all to this,
[00:03:02] the question is only the margin of safety, whose figure will fall on the board
[00:03:06] last, we will definitely discuss it together, this was
[00:03:09] the "Trends" program, scattered facts packaged into a single
[00:03:12] concept, see you again!
[00:04:42] Today we will go to our western borders, to where,
[00:04:46] 20 km from the border with Belarus, perhaps the most ambitious
[00:04:49] military operation of the Bundeswehr
[00:04:53] since the Second World War is unfolding, it is about the permanent deployment
[00:04:56] of a heavy German brigade in Lithuania. Germany
[00:05:00] calls this a historical turning point, but
[00:05:03] what lies behind these loud words, is the German
[00:05:07] army ready for such a breakthrough, and what does it mean for us, for
[00:05:11] Belarus? Has Germany gone back to its old ways
[00:05:14] or is this something else? I am
[00:05:17] Ksenia Lebedeva.
[00:05:18] Hello!
[00:05:28] First, about the scale, we are talking about the 45th tank brigade
[00:05:32] with a strength of 500 people. By the end of
[00:05:34] 2027, this formation should reach full
[00:05:38] operational readiness. Its permanent deployment is the military
[00:05:42] town of Rudninkai, 17 km south of
[00:05:45] Vilnius, only 20 km from
[00:05:48] our Belarusian border, the place was not chosen
[00:05:52] by chance, this is a direct response to the so-called growing
[00:05:55] threat from the East, as they say in NATO.
[00:05:59] Construction of the town on 190 hectares is already
[00:06:02] in full swing, the cost of the object is almost
[00:06:06] 1.5 billion euros. The first military personnel will move there
[00:06:09] already in the fall of this year.
[00:06:13] Work on Lithuania's largest military infrastructure
[00:06:16] project is in full swing, the first buildings are already
[00:06:19] standing, the government in Vilnius has repeatedly assured that
[00:06:22] the infrastructure, financed by the Lithuanian side for the deployment
[00:06:26] of the brigade, will be ready on time. The fact that in the foreseeable future about
[00:06:29] 500 Bundeswehr soldiers will permanently move with their families to
[00:06:33] Lithuania means a lot to the residents of the Baltic
[00:06:37] Sea country. Not only in polls does the deployment of the brigade cause great
[00:06:40] approval, but also in Lithuanian school textbooks its contribution to
[00:06:43] Lithuania's security is already mentioned.
[00:06:46] Gratitude was also clearly visible in the deployment of armed forces
[00:06:50] in May 2025 in Vilnius Cathedral Square during
[00:06:54] the conscription. Thousands of people attended the solemn
[00:06:57] ceremony, which was also broadcast live by Lithuanian
[00:07:00] Television. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also took
[00:07:04] part, whose words about the common security
[00:07:07] interests of Germany and its NATO partner were
[00:07:10] immortalized on the wall of the historic building. Already in December
[00:07:13] 2025, Lithuania's security is our
[00:07:17] security, the defense of Vilnius is the defense
[00:07:19] of Berlin. In Berlin, this project is called
[00:07:23] the Lighthouse of the Turnaround, the politics of a turning point.
[00:07:27] For this, the Bundestag even adopted a special package of laws
[00:07:30] designed to make service in Lithuania attractive. Right at
[00:07:34] our doorstep, a well-funded military base
[00:07:37] is being created. And this is a new reality that we
[00:07:41] are forced to accept.
[00:07:50] I want to be extremely clear, without the changes planned in the turning
[00:07:53] point law, we jeopardize the build-up of brigade forces
[00:07:57] in Lithuania. In addition, we jeopardize key
[00:08:00] elements of our own security and risk
[00:08:03] losing authority and trust as a reliable NATO ally.
[00:08:07] Lithuania, as part of the eastern flank, is particularly vulnerable and under
[00:08:11] particular threat from Russia, everyone who has been there
[00:08:14] can literally feel the fear there, so Germany
[00:08:18] will deploy a brigade with a total strength of about 4800
[00:08:21] military personnel, as well as about
[00:08:25] 200 civilian employees in this part of the Baltics. The Lithuania
[00:08:28] brigade is for me one of the most important, if not the most
[00:08:31] important project of our changing era. Every day it
[00:08:34] takes on clearer outlines and represents
[00:08:37] a big step for our country, as well as a clear
[00:08:40] confirmation of our obligations and a clear signal to allies in
[00:08:44] the alliance, this is a strong sign to all allies, but also to
[00:08:47] Russia, by adopting a comprehensive law, we are laying
[00:08:50] a crucial foundation for the Lithuania brigade, because only
[00:08:54] thanks to this will the military personnel who should show interest
[00:08:58] and express readiness to go there, even find out under what
[00:09:01] conditions they are doing it.
[00:09:04] Let's see what's happening in practice. It's officially stated
[00:09:08] that the brigade is planned to be staffed by volunteers,
[00:09:11] however, according to data that... the most
[00:09:42] serious shortfall. The situation is paradoxical: there is
[00:09:46] an ambitious plan, there is huge money, there is
[00:09:50] political will, German soldiers do not want
[00:09:53] to serve, and this caused panic in the German Ministry of Defense.
[00:09:57] Defense Minister Boris Pistorius,
[00:10:01] who personally oversees this project, stated that Germany is considering
[00:10:04] mandatory conscription to staff
[00:10:08] the brigade. Think about it, a country that
[00:10:11] for decades... built a professional army on
[00:10:14] a voluntary basis, is ready to return to forced
[00:10:18] mobilization, and not to protect its borders, but to
[00:10:22] send soldiers thousands of kilometers to...
[00:10:25] the Baltics. Let's discuss this issue with the Deputy Chief
[00:10:29] of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Military Academy of Belarus,
[00:10:32] Andrei Bagadel. There are talks that
[00:10:36] today there are problems to fill these places,
[00:10:40] maybe some fake news and public
[00:10:42] opinion check. Well, actually, the forty-fifth tank brigade,
[00:10:46] which is being transferred today from the territory of the Federal Republic
[00:10:50] of Germany, this is really not fake, this is real, there are two known places for its
[00:10:54] deployment.
[00:11:25] two combat battalions are being transferred there,
[00:11:27] this is the 122nd mechanized
[00:11:31] battalion and the 203rd tank
[00:11:34] battalion, that is, today the brigade commander, Brigadier
[00:11:38] General Christoph Huber, is truly
[00:11:41] forming a new brigade, and its phased
[00:11:45] coordination is already underway. Just recently, exercises were held where
[00:11:48] the battalions were coordinated, the 122nd
[00:11:51] battalion performed tasks in conditions.
[00:12:25] Lithuania is ready to spend 6 billion euros just to
[00:12:29] deploy this brigade. The question also lies, of course, in
[00:12:32] moral and psychological preparation, that is, soldiers do not want to serve in
[00:12:35] Lithuania. There is a deep awareness that
[00:12:39] the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus are nearby and that a tank
[00:12:42] brigade is being sent there not just like that, but
[00:12:46] to, as they say, cover that very eastern flank, but at
[00:12:50] the same time, all military politicians unanimously state that
[00:12:54] this also applies to... the feverish person who heads
[00:12:57] Germany today and Boris Pistorius, the Minister of Defense of the FRG, they
[00:13:01] say that by twenty-ninth year there must be some kind of war
[00:13:04] with Russia, well, what do you think, do the Germans want
[00:13:08] to go there in the end, are they ready to
[00:13:12] die there among the first for the same Lithuania, for some imaginary
[00:13:16] eastern flank, but this is not all limited to the forty-fifth tank brigade,
[00:13:19] literally within these months
[00:13:23] the transfer
[00:13:26] and forward command post of the joint
[00:13:28] German-Dutch corps is being carried out, whose headquarters will
[00:13:32] be located in Estonia, but they are taking under their command not
[00:13:36] only Lithuania, but already today also control in such
[00:13:39] regions as Latvia and Estonia, and did you notice
[00:13:43] that today more
[00:13:46] and more often they say that the Baltic countries want to deploy nuclear weapons
[00:13:50] on their territory, and they choose between American
[00:13:53] and French,
[00:15:37] the treaty was marked by what? The entry of the Federal Republic
[00:15:41] of Germany into the North Atlantic Alliance. Before that, no one even
[00:15:44] thought of creating a second military
[00:15:47] bloc in Europe. And
[00:15:50] what? If I can even recall my, as they say, cadet
[00:15:54] youth, when still under the Soviet Union,
[00:15:57] the main adversaries, probable adversaries, we considered
[00:16:00] only two countries. And two armies, the Federal Republic
[00:16:04] of Germany and the United States of America.
[00:16:08] And today the Federal Republic of Germany,
[00:16:11] again, having adopted a new strategy, literally in
[00:16:14] April of this year, says that it must occupy
[00:16:17] leading positions precisely on the eastern
[00:16:20] flank. One can even recall the words of the chief
[00:16:24] military inspector, Christoph Broyer, that
[00:16:27] today the Russian Federation provides,
[00:16:31] represents the greatest threat to us, it is an enemy for us, and the commander,
[00:16:34] for example, of the ground forces, General Freuding
[00:16:38] stated that all operational and combat training today is aimed
[00:16:42] at confronting Russia and Belarus, and
[00:16:45] General Neumann, the commander of the Luftwaffe air
[00:16:48] forces, he says that my pilots are already
[00:16:52] ready to shoot down Russian planes today, and will
[00:16:56] do so in the best traditions. It's interesting, in what best traditions do they
[00:17:00] intend, these Luftwaffe pilots, to shoot down our planes. But
[00:17:04] I also want to talk about the 203rd battalion, which is located in... Erwin
[00:17:26] Rommel, but roughly that's what you need to know about it, well, again, I
[00:17:29] want to say that the forty-fifth formation, this tank
[00:17:33] brigade, this formation, it's no coincidence that it appeared on our
[00:17:36] border with such a number. Because exactly the same formation, yes, it was
[00:17:40] then infantry, on June 22,
[00:17:43] 1941, it was the first to storm our
[00:17:46] Brest Fortress, by chance or not, the same formations, again
[00:17:50] near our borders, let's hope it passes, but
[00:18:02] plans, billions in investment, the construction of a huge military
[00:18:06] base twenty kilometers from Belarus, on
[00:18:09] the other hand - a severe personnel shortage, the unwillingness
[00:18:12] of German military personnel to participate in this project, the threat
[00:18:16] of returning to forced conscription. The ambitions
[00:18:19] of the Bundestag and Boris Pistorius collide with
[00:18:23] the harsh reality in their planning of an updated scenario
[00:18:26] for a march on the East. As some
[00:18:30] Germans have a genetic fear of encountering
[00:18:33] Russians and Belarusians on the battlefield again,
[00:18:37] well, those who have forgotten,
[00:18:41] will have to refresh their memory, but that's already
[00:18:44] another story. And with you was Ksenia Lebedeva, see you in
[00:18:48] the next program.