MINSK, 25 April (BelTA) - Delegates of the 7th Belarusian People's Congress have approved the National Security Concept and the Military Doctrine, BelTA has learned.
Before the vote on these documents, Chairman of the Belarusian People’s Congress Aleksandr Lukashenko drew the attention of the delegates to the fact that they will deal with such strategic, most important issues for the country in the future.
"We take everything in stride. We are a bit concerned about the events in Ukraine, saboteurs and so on. So far, we have been doing well to counter all these things but we feel more or less calm and safe. We discuss these issues freely. But the situation can change at any moment, God forbid. We should not be complacent. The most important thing for us is to keep our guard up. We are Belarusians and we think: well, 2020 has passed, other things are far away. They are not. Dear friends, everything is very close. Therefore, it is better to know and prepare in advance. This is the main thing," Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed.
The delegates supported the updated documents unanimously.
The draft of the new National Security Concept was approved at a meeting of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus on 20 February 2023. Before submitting it to the Belarusian People's Congress for approval, the head of state instructed to hold a public discussion of it. During the year, more than 70 discussion platforms were organized to examine the main novelties of the Concept in all regions of the country, in state bodies and organizations, labor collectives, educational institutions, trade unions and public associations with representatives of the scientific and expert community, major religious denominations, and civil society. For maximum audience coverage, the text of the new Concept was also posted on the National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus.
In January of this year, at a meeting of the Security Council, the head of state and members of the Security Council were briefed on specific proposals, which, as a result of public discussion, were suggested for the updated Concept. First of all, they were about the additional protection of the institution of the traditional family, increasing the level of social responsibility of business, overcoming the imbalances of regional development, specifying the list of national security forces, the conceptual system, the procedure for approving the system of indicative assessment of the state of national security, and other things.
As for the new Military Doctrine, it does not provide for a drastic revision of the provisions of the state's military policy. The current provisions have remained unchanged, and its defensive nature has been preserved. The document discloses the content of military policy. In particular, it stresses that Belarus is a peace-loving country that does not threaten anyone, and that attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the state, and even more so the threat of the use of military force or aggression, will be suppressed using all means available .
Both fundamental documents were approved by the Security Council in February 2024 and, in accordance with the Constitution of Belarus, submitted to the Belarusian People's Congress for approval.
