NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko must respect fundamental rights, Reuters reported.
According to Stoltenberg, the use of the military bloc as a pretext for pressure in the country is unjustified.
"The regime in Minsk must demonstrate full respect for fundamental rights including freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest," said Stoltenberg, who is in Berlin for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"NATO has no military build up in the region so any attempt to use that an excuse to crack down on peaceful protesters is absolutely unjustified," he said, adding it was up to the people of Belarus to decide their future.
