Belarus’ Emergencies Ministry to be restructured into full-fledged military and security structure – as reported to President
The Head of State has been reported today on restructuring of Belarus’ Emergencies Ministry structure
As stated by the President, the issue of the need to reform the Emergencies Ministry structure was discussed last year. Its enhancement is in focus – ‘as for any other structure’, he said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted, “There is nothing new in this regard. We just cannot stop, since it is impossible to stop life. At that time, I proposed the Minister's proposals – which were made – to be further studied by the Government and the State Secretariat [of the Security Council]. With this in mind, the topic of the today's meeting in a narrow format is to look into the results of this work.”
The Head of State stressed that the Emergencies Ministry staff demonstrate a high level of professionalism and training. “The Emergencies Ministry employees are strong guys – and not only the men. I really respect these people. Wherever the Emergencies Ministry servicemen are, no matter how they try to show themselves, they are one of the best – or even probably the best,” he said.
The President mentioned the Ministry’s staff participation in the parade, different international competitions and demonstration events countrywide. They are up to the mark everywhere. Aleksandr Lukashenko explained, “This is very important. This is the image of the Emergencies Ministry. I tend to say that all employees of the Emergencies Ministry – especially under the leadership of the current minister – want to be part of a military and security structure. That is how we view them. However, to be a security officer, it is necessary to be proficient in weapons. My order was to decide upon what representatives of the Emergencies Ministry would be armed. Which of these men and women who serve here would be permitted to carry firearms and be perfectly well trained? Therefore, I would like to hear an answer to this question. How far have we progressed in this regard so that the Emergencies Ministry becomes a real military and security structure? How many people in our country will know how to handle arms no worse than the army and police? This is a key aspect.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko explained why this issue is put in this way today, “In our compact, small country, we cannot have 200-300 thousand permanently active Armed Forces personnel. We have agreed that our Armed Forces manpower makes 65,000 servicemen. We stopped there. However, if there is some kind of conflict – or war, God forbid – will our strong, reliable employees of the Emergencies Ministry stay aside? No. They will not only extinguish the fire. Firefighters are a thing of the past. These are not firefighters – but rescuers. Their another function is to be armed so that – at H-hour – to stand up to defend our Homeland. To do this, they need to know how to handle arms.”
The Head of State developed the topic of the Emergencies Ministry arming and explained what weapons are in view. “Will these be pistols, assault rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers? Will we arm them with some other military hardware as well? I think we will. These serious assets will be a help for our army ‘in case’. Maybe even in peacetime, by modernising our Emergencies Ministry, we will find jobs for them as armed people. This is very important for a restructuring process; we should not simply draw squares and distribute persons among them. It needs no saying. However, there should be significant modernisation,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.
The President demands an even-handed attitude to reformation of the Emergencies Ministry. “It is necessary to treat the issue of reformation rationally – not simply removing some functions and binding the Ministry hand and foot so that it cannot fulfil its obligations. It is necessary to remove the responsibilities that have outlived themselves and that we do not need any more – so that people do not feel aggrieved that [the Ministry] gets involved in the necessary and unnecessary activities. Meanwhile, we are observing no fewer fires... In this regard, we need to consider the effectiveness of the entire modernisation effort,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted.
