By Valentin Sergeev
This year, Belarus is ranked 96th (out of 162 countries) in the Global Peace Index — up from 109th place (out of 158 states) a year ago. Experts note that this improvement is promoted by a fall in crime levels in Belarus. Turkmenistan occupies 103rd place, Ukraine is 111th, Tajikistan is ranked 118th and Russia occupies 155th place.
According to researchers, the least peaceful countries are problematic Afghanistan (ranked 162nd), Somalia (161st) and Syria (160th), with the last seeing the greatest fall in ranking in the history of the Peace Index.
Europe remains the most peaceful region (as last year), being home to 13 countries among the top twenty. Iceland is recognised as the most peaceful, followed by Denmark and New Zealand. Over the last six years, there has been a 5 percent fall in the overall Global Peace Index, which uses 23 criteria spread across three major groups. Peace loving countries score low, with the presence and scale of conflict, the level of stability and security inside the country and militarisation levels all contributing to the ranking.
