Lukashenko: only nationwide defense can give real response to the enemy

16 июня 2021

Time and again, the President addresses the security issues. We live in a difficult time, so the defense of the country, ensuring a peaceful life, is more relevant than ever! Especially given what is happening today in the world and around Belarus. 

The importance of territorial defense, as a part of national security, only increases in these circumstances! The system we have created has proved its efficiency.  Only nationwide defense is able to give a real repulse to the enemy and destructive forces, said the President today. The decision to do it was not easy, but in the end it was the right one. Every region of Belarus should be ready to mobilize in a short period of time.

Nationwide defense

Modern conflicts do not resemble the familiar scenes from war movies. You can't see the front line today as before. The hybrid warfare is led. The wave of negativity that swept over Belarus last year makes us look at the security at all fronts once again. The decision to create territorial defense proved its practicability.

Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus:

The decisions to create territorial defense taken 20 years ago has confirmed its appropriateness. The unification of the country and its population strengthens the resistance to both external and internal threats.

Territorial formations are operating in many countries. Not only in Belarus. It is a good tool for effective defense. Aggression does not start with large troops, but with saboteurs and armed gangs. So it is the locals who will be the first to react.

Of course, territorial troops are not a substitute for the armed forces. "Not instead of, but together!" Rather that could be the formula for their interaction. This means that at any given moment a powerful fist will be assembled in each region that can defend its very own piece of land. That is why the emphasis today is made on the small arms. This is part of the global view of security. Belarus has managed to create a flexible territorial defense management system. There are seven zones in each region and the capital. Each of them is controlled by a governor and a mayor of Minsk. So, local leaders are the main aides in the defense. 

Earlier it was suggested that the President should subordinate military commissars in the regions to the civilian leadership. But the Commander-in-Chief did not agree to reorganize the military hierarchy. The existing system is working.  The problem of control is not on the agenda.

Leonid Zayats, chairman of the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee:

People took the mobilization with understanding, approached it very responsibly, showed quite coordinated work of our troops.

Sometimes it's not easy to get out of the comfort zone. But in the event of a threat, the security of important sites in the area, from bridges and communication centers to hospitals and supplying organizations, will also depend on these people.