Professor Maltsev: peace in Belarus is not a given, but President Lukashenko’s merit
Thirty years ago, independent Belarus and its army began to take their first steps towards revival. The Armed Forces were weak, and there was no National Security Concept then. The Director of the Institute of Civil Service at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Belarus, Dr. Sc. (Political Science), PhD (Sociology), Professor Leonid Maltsev, explained what measures had proved effective in saving the country from its falling into an abyss, and how it had become possible to build a reliable national security system.
“After the declaration of Belarus’ independence in 1991, the country's leadership at that time did not think seriously about national security. Not only was there no concept, but even the idea of it did not exist. The military doctrine was adopted, but for some reason it was made completely secret – and that was a big mistake: such a document has, among other aspects, an important function of informing society and the world community about the principles on which the country’s military security is being built. There was no concept of building the Armed Forces, on the contrary, they were being cut thoughtlessly, and the military – like the whole nation – were at a loss. An end to that chaos was put with the election of the first President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, who immediately initiated the construction of a national security system,” the expert noted.
Mr. Maltsev added that, in the spring of 1995, the first concept was adopted, and it became the basis for further improvement of the entire system. “At that time, there were urgent tasks in the country to combat crime, and the new developments turned out to be timely and quite effective: the republic began to get rid of organised criminal groups, the level of criminal manifestations began to decline, and society was relieved to feel the improvement in the situation,” he continued. “The state then took another important step forward in its development: in 2001, the National Security Concept was clarified, and it was significantly revised in 2010 due to changes in the situation. The latest version takes into account the risks to the state that have arisen in connection with military operations and militarisation near Belarus’ borders, as well as new types of threats related to the aggressive aspirations of external opponents.”
“I would like to emphasise: the peaceful sky above Belarusians’ heads is not a matter of course, but the merit of their President, who has been personally leading the resolution of the most important issues in this area,” the expert stated.