MINSK, 13 June (BelTA) – The state of things and development prospects of the State Security Committee (KGB) of Belarus were discussed at a meeting hosted by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, BelTA has learned.
The president heard out reports of the head of the Belarus President Administration, the state secretary of the Security Council and the chairman of the KGB.
“It is time for us to take a serious look at our main special service - the KGB. It is clear that the situation in the world has become more complicated; special services are coming to play a bigger role in a number of states. Our people have also seen the role and place of the KGB in law enforcement and the security of our state. The committee has recently become more active. And we believe that the State Security Committee needs changes and these changes should not be minor. We need to add some new functions to what they already do. They need to take on some additional tasks. They might also need to strengthen their traditional functions. I mean intelligence, counterintelligence, protection of the constitutional order and so on, anti-terrorist activities. This is the core area of work of special services in any country. Naturally, it is necessary to intensify work in some areas. It might also make sense to entrust them with new tasks in order to maintain information security and to confront the hybrid war that was launched not only against Belarus. This war has already affected the entire world. This is the topic of our conversation. Today we need to make a final decision,” the president said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that a lot has recently been done to reform and improve all law enforcement agencies in Belarus, especially after the presidential election.
“As for the Defense Ministry, we have undertaken several attempts to improve our army. This is a natural process and it depends on what kind of developments we are having now and what kind of war may break out, if any, God forbid. There are a lot of reasons. We have introduced major improvements to the structure and operation of our army five times, maybe,” the head of state said.
Similarly, a decision has recently been made on the Emergencies Ministry. “I think that this decision is serious and is meant for a long haul. We might revisit this matter later if needed,” the president said.
“Our border troops have probably the optimal structure. This agency takes into account the experience of both the Soviet period and the situation around us,” the head of state said.
