MINSK, 31 October (BelTA) - There will be an adequate response to any provocation on the Ukrainian border, Chairman of the State Border Committee of Belarus Anatoly Lappo said in an interview to ONT TV Channel, BelTA has learned.
“We have rolled out heavy security at the border with Ukraine, because anything can be expected. In the entire history of modern Belarus we have never guarded the border where there is a military conflict on the neighboring side. Of course, we have reconsidered our security. We have never guarded the border with a group of weapons and a stockpile of ammunition. We have also changed the psychology of approaches to training a soldier and an officer. Therefore, an adequate response will follow any provocation on the border. As our President Aleksandr Lukashenko says, we are peace-loving people, but we will not let anyone offend us,” said Anatoly Lappo.
The chairman of the State Border Committee added that the situation on the western borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia was more or less calm. “We are on duty. The Polish side, of course, has brought to the border some 7,000 people of territorial defense and military personnel. This does not interfere with our service. As for the Baltic states, the situation is similar. They are building fences, but we do not understand why they waste so much money on this,” he said.
According to Anatoly Lappo, all the border security efforts are now focused on the entry to Belarus. “We will act only on the basis of our national interests. We are open to dialogue and have always been so. We need to sit down at the negotiating table, and not to build fences, as the Poles have done (180km of the fence to the total tune of €1 billion, and the same amount is still required). With this money, they could have fed and warmed a lot of people, could have created many jobs. Did the fence fulfill its functions? It didn't,” the chairman concluded.
