Opinions & Interviews

Expert: While neighbors rearm, Belarus pursues a peaceful policy

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MINSK, 27 December (BelTA) - Belarus is not expanding its military because it expects peace to prevail, Andrei Bogodel, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Education and Science – Head of the Education and Methodology Department of the Faculty of the General Staff of the Armed Forces at the Military Academy of Belarus, said in the latest episode of the V Teme [On Point] project on BelTA’s YouTube channel.

According to the expert, Belarus is considered an aggressor in the so-called collective West, yet while its neighbors are rearming, the country is pursuing a peaceful policy. “When our head of state says that we are interested in peace, we clearly understand what is emerging near our borders,” he emphasized.

At the same time, if, figuratively speaking, the end of the armed conflict in Ukraine were announced tomorrow, a 600,000 to 800,000-strong Ukrainian army, which considers us co-aggressors and territory occupied by the Russian Federation, would be stationed near Belarus’ southern borders. “Wherever I look, for some reason I don’t see any elements suggesting that Russia has occupied us anywhere, in any way. Nevertheless, 600,000 or 800,000 is about 10 to 12 times larger than our army. And the point is, we are not increasing the size of our Armed Forces. This again indicates that we are still counting on peace. That this peace is necessary. We understand that it is better to trade than to fight today, and the economy is paramount. After all, the issue was precisely this: it’s not the USA or Ukraine that comes first, but the economy. This means that we must pass our country on to our children by 2030 free of the problems we are facing today,” said Andrei Bogodel.

The expert noted that even if Ukraine is not admitted into NATO, it will be made an ally outside the alliance. “What was this confrontation for in the end? What do we get as a result? Should the head of state think about this? Of course he should, because security is still far from guaranteed on our borders. If you recall the head of state’s address on the first day of the Belarusian People’s Congress – the agenda seemed to be socio-economic, but just a paragraph later he was literally addressing General Khrenin, then General Molostov, then General Kubrakov. And it felt like the second part of the report was delivered with Chairman of the State Security Committee, Lieutenant General [Ivan] Tertel, hardly sitting down at all, because questions of the economy and questions of ensuring our security were side by side. The head of state said that the issue today lies primarily in how well we can ensure a balance of power in the region – that is the key phrase,” Andrei Bogodel emphasized.

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