Belarus’ General Staff Chief: updated Military Doctrine can serve as basis for conflict resolution in Europe

Despite a deep revision of the content-related part, the updated Military Doctrine has preserved the peaceful aspiration of the Belarusian people, and its important message is that Belarus does not treat any nation as its enemy, regardless of actions of their governments – as stated by Viktor Gulevich, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the First Deputy Defence Minister of Belarus, during his recent meeting with deputies of the House of Representatives

“Of course, the new Military Doctrine was not born from scratch. The Defence Ministry developed the required foundation, and the document underwent a deep scientific study. At the same time, I want to emphasise that the developed document represents not only the view of the military: almost all government agencies participated in the work over it. Moreover, local executive and administrative bodies also joined the process at the stage of approving the draft document in the Government. Before consideration at a meeting of the Security Council, the draft doctrine was sent to the heads of the houses of Parliament. It was considered very carefully during the meetings of the Standing Committee of the House of Representatives on National Security. In addition, a meeting of the expert council was organised in the Council of the Republic, and specialists from government agencies, analytical organisations and scientific structures shared their views,” Mr. Gulevich said.

The Chief of the General Staff added that the draft Military Doctrine is actually a new document – taking into account all amendments. “The updated Military Doctrine can serve as a basis for resolving the situation in Europe and launching a peaceful dialogue. In the first articles of the document, we declare our readiness to act as a platform for the peaceful settlement of conflicts and the launch of a global security dialogue. In addition, we have demonstrated Belarus' interest in restoring the influence of international security organisations – such as the UN, OSCE, and others – and their effective functioning to prevent collisions. The draft document reads that Belarus is open to military co-operation with any state, including NATO countries. It is ready to resume a pragmatic dialogue, provided that they stop their aggressive rhetoric and activities against the republic,” Mr. Gulevich stressed.