Alexander Lukashenko had threatened to close the country's borders. /Tut.by/AFP
Belarus's borders are so far still open, despite President Alexander Lukashenko saying he would close them because of the threat of war with neighboring countries he has accused of backing his opponents.
The country's border guard service said on its Telegram channel that "checks have been stepped up" and "tactical reinforcements have been deployed," but that "checkpoints are permitting people to enter and leave."
There have been widespread protests since the elections last month, in which Lukashenko, who has led the country for 26 years, claimed a fresh term as president.
He has said that "half" of the Belarusian army would be deployed to the country's borders with Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine.
Speaking at a women's forum on Thursday he said that the frontiers would be closed in view of the threat of a "hot war."
He added: "I don't want our country to enter a war, and even less for Belarus, Poland and Lithuania to become the scene of military actions, where other people's problems would be sorted out."
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His government has hit back at protesters over the past month, claiming that the opposition movement was being used as a puppet by Western countries, who have not accepted the result of the presidential election.
Lukashenko is now leaning on support from Russian President Vladimir Putin. /Sergei Gapon/AFP
It is not the first time Lukashenko has deployed the army to Belarus's borders and he has done it on various occasions when faced with supposed foreign threats, most recently pointing his soldiers towards Russia over the summer.
Since the election and the protest movement, there have been signs of closer links with Russia, with Lukashenko and Russia's President Vladimir Putin meeting earlier this week.
In addition to providing a $1.5 billion loan, the Russian president also signaled support for Lukashenko by saying defense cooperation would continue between the two countries. Russian news agencies reported separately that Moscow was sending paratroopers on Monday for joint exercises.
After that meeting, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition candidate whose supporters say she was the true winner of last month's election, said no agreement reached by Lukashenko with Putin would be valid.
"I want to remind Vladimir Putin: whatever you accept and whatever you agree upon during the meeting in Sochi will have no legal weight," she wrote on social media site Telegram.