Report of State Secretary of Security Council Aleksandr Volfovich

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko heard out a report from State Secretary of the Security Council Aleksandr Volfovich on 25 November.

“We should think about a conversation between the President and the leadership of our army. Maybe even of the defense, security, and law enforcement agencies. Think about how it should be organized. Either here or in the Defense Ministry. We have not met and have not talked for a long time. It has to be done,” the head of state said.

The head of state also wondered about the impression left by the army’s recent combat readiness tests, which had been conducted under the leadership of the State Secretariat of the Security Council. Apart from that, the President asked for a clarification about the state of affairs in the army and in defense, security, and law enforcement agencies on the whole.

According to the President, the conversation with the leadership of the defense, security, and law enforcement agencies could be organized similarly to the way the meeting with Belarusian scientists was organized on 21 November. “On the basis of [combat readiness] tests we will talk to them similarly to how we’ve talked to scientists. Approximately in that manner,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed. “Good? Good it is then. Bad? Then we’ll say what is bad. We mustn’t relax under any circumstances.”

“We agreed that you would meet with the truck drivers on Sunday. There are roughly 1,800 of them, all with Lithuanian license plates. The drivers themselves, however, are a diverse group – Belarusians, Russians, Lithuanians, and Kazakhs. They [Lithuanians] have now opened the border. Naturally, they do not want to admit they are to blame. And we do not need them to; people can see for themselves who is right and who is wrong,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The head of state believes that the Lithuanian side will try to exploit this topic to pressure truck drivers into adopting a certain political stance. “You had to explain to people what was happening, how it was happening, and who is to blame, after all. I believe you did that,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “What is your opinion from your conversation with the drivers? What is their view of the situation?”

Speaking about the heavy-duty truck drivers stranded in Belarus after Lithuania closed the border, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that they bear no responsibility for the Lithuanian authorities’ decisions. “These people and the companies they work for are not to blame for anything. What are the Lithuanian trucking companies guilty of? Nothing. This stupidity was committed at the political level,” he emphasized.

The President added that the current situation must now be resolved by the two countries’ foreign ministries: “Let our and Lithuania’s Foreign Ministries meet and resolve this situation.”

Furthermore, the President instructed the state secretary of the Security Council to consider personnel issues.