Session of Belarus’ Security Council

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko is holding a meeting of the Security Council to discuss plans to increase its role.

According to the President, the Security Council meeting was convened to continue discussing a bigger role of this collegial body in the life of the state. “This also pertains to protection of independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty and constitutional order of Belarus, civil peace and harmony, fight against extremism and terrorism,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The Security Council should have enough powers to deal with the risks and threats of the present day, the President stressed. “I want to explain to those who are discussing the new decree in social networks and messengers without knowing much about it that the Security Council is not only security officials, as some are assuming,” the head of state said. He noted that half of the permanent members of the Security Council are civilians: senior government officials, heads of the both chambers of parliament and the Belarus President Administration. “If we look at all members of the Security Council, we will see that two-thirds are civilians there,” the head of state added.

Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled that this constitutional body ensures the exercise of powers of the head of state in the field of national security, including the powers stipulated by his position of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. “Naturally, the Security Council includes and will always include senior officials of the security apparatus,” the Belarusian leader noted.

Among the matters discussed at the Security Council meeting on 18 May was the development of a new regulation on this collegial body. According to the President, the document is based on the Constitution, the Law “On Defense”, the Military Doctrine, the National Security Concept, other legislation, and international legal acts adopted during the period of Belarus’ independence. The authors of the document carefully studied similar collegial bodies in other countries, primarily in the allied countries.

“It is fundamentally important that the new legislative act that specifies the work of the Security Council would not have any classified chapters and would be completely open to the public. Every citizen of Belarus, especially in the current conditions, should know and see that all decisions are made collectively and openly,” the Belarusian leader emphasized.

“Domestic and foreign policy in the context of national security has always been the most important area of work of the Security Council,” the President stated. He emphasized that the work of all state bodies to overcome modern challenges and threats should be not only effective, but also as coordinated as possible.

“Taking into account aggressive attempts to turn Belarus, in the terminology of the United States of America, into a “failed state”, we should give the Security Council new specific, important functions. This will help ensure stable and safe functioning of the entire state and each individual. All these issues have to do with protection of sovereignty and constitutional order mentioned in the Decree that I signed on 9 May,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.