Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has given instructions to consider the possibility of redistributing personnel between the army and the border service as he visited the border guard station Divin in Kobrin District, Brest Oblast on 1 June, BelTA has learned.
Speaking about the optimization of personnel numbers in military structures in Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko suggested a different approach to the border service. “Maybe we don't have to radically reduce the number of personnel in the border service. The troops here are always combat ready after all. And the training standards are excellent. And the border service gives more skills to people for the future, at least motorized infantry skills. We may have to consider reducing the army personnel by 2,000-3,000 people while leaving this number [to the border service]. So that there could be 5-10 of these people at every border guard station. Not as redundant personnel but people free to serve as some reserve,” said the head of state.
According to Alexander Lukashenko, more effective training of the military personnel is the key goal. Besides, there are other benefits. “The border guard station is like home to them. There is no bullying or harassment,” he noted. “We don't wage a war today. We train and educate people. Redistributing personnel in the border service together with the army is a great deal of work. If they can do it and if it is advantageous for the country and serves future needs, then we will embrace this policy. The border service trains its personnel better than the army does. A different system is employed and the numbers are smaller,” said the president.
Alexander Lukashenko returned to this discussion several times while on a tour of the border guard station, in particular, when the president saw a lightly armored automobile as a recent addition to the arsenal of the Belarusian border service. The head of state underlined that today's armed conflicts primarily need mobile units and respectively trained military personnel.
Written by belta.by
