Alexander Lukashenko: Belarus does not choose between contract army and drafted service

26 февраля 2019

The President of Belarus discussed possible changes in conscription with the permanent members of the Security Council. Despite the shortage of young recruits, Belarus does not choose between contract army and drafted service. The reason for the shortfalls lies in the demographic problems of the 90s, when the birth rate significantly reduced in the country. The current situation, according to the forecasts of the Ministry of Defense, will not change qualitatively until 2025. Alexander Lukashenko notes that some measures have already been taken in this regard. So, last year deferments were canceled for a number of categories, including prosecutors and forensic scientists. 47 categories of citizens have the right to postponement in our country. This is one of the highest rates in the CIS. For this reason, the number of registered recruits has almost halved in Belarus in just 10 years. However, this is not a reason to copy the experience of countries with contract army.

Specific proposals on the motivation of young people to serve in the Armed Forces were voiced to journalists by the Minister of Defense. According to Andrei Ravkov, it is planned to introduce benefits and preferences for citizens who have completed urgent military service or service in reserve.

New approaches to granting deferments were discussed at the meeting separately. Last year our troops were not fully staffed with young recruits. The President ordered to bring order to the whole structure from school to demobilization. The main thing is to create conditions for a conscious call, so that a person would like to serve in the army, rather than search for a reason to delay.