Major General: if opponents dislike Belarus’ military-patriotic clubs, then everything is being done right

An opinion exists that children are being prepared for a real war at Belarusian military-patriotic clubs, and the Aide to the Defence Minister for Ideological Work in the Armed Forces – Head of the Main Department of Ideological Work at the Defence Ministry, Major General Leonid Kasinsky, commented on the issue in his talk with the Belarus 1 TV channel

Photo: video screenshot

Leonid Kasinsky stressed that such a point of view is shared exclusively by Belarus’ opponents, “I have voiced more than once: if they dislike this, if this situation drives them crazy, then we are doing everything right. Actually, no one prepares children for a war. Military-patriotic clubs and the process of patriotic, military-patriotic education are aimed at making patriots of our boys and girls.”

The Major General added that almost the same work is carried out with young people in the West, but this fact is not widely discussed. “This is observed in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, for example. They just do not talk about it. In 2016, a delegation of Latvia’s Education Ministry visited Belarus to learn from the experience of our pre-conscription training – to further use it in their own country. This is a normal practice of any state: i.e. the US scout movement is, in fact, a form of military-patriotic clubs.”

Mr. Kasinsky believes the military-patriotic movement is a spiritual training. “However, it is no need to make a panacea of them. At present, there are about 48 such clubs in the structure of the Armed Forces, and we are constantly increasing these capabilities. However, we are unable to unite all young people within clubs alone, so we use various forms and methods of patriotic education. For example, almost 140 summer military-patriotic camps were organised for children last year in the Armed Forces, and they brought together more than 14 thousand boys and girls. Interestingly, many of them want to spend up to three shifts in such camps. They are interested in an active lifestyle. After introducing the position of ‘military patriotic education head’ in schools – following an initiative of the military, which was supported by the Education Ministry and the Head of State – we began to seriously revive the previously existing practice of organising military patriotic games in educational institutions. We can already assert that the result is worth it," the Major General concluded.