Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 5 June (BelTA) – In view of new challenges and threats, the CIS should make the most of its integration capacity to strengthen security, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said as he met with heads of delegations taking part in the 36^th session of the CIS council of heads of security and special services, BelTA has learnt.

The President noted that Belarus hosted the session of the council five years ago. “Over this time, dramatic changes have taken place worldwide and in the CIS, as well as in the global and regional security systems,” the Belarusian leader said.

Alexander Lukashenko admitted with regret the reduction in the number of participants of the sessions - the heads of the CIS security services - which is due to Georgia’s withdrawal from the Commonwealth. Ukraine announced plans to follow suit.

“Nevertheless, new challenges and threats urge us to coordinate our effort and take full advantage of the CIS capacity in order to strengthen the security in the member states,” the President said.

“Some people are trying to disunite us, set us against each other using all kinds of opportunities, including the distortion of history. The goal is clear – to eradicate the common memory of who won the Great Patriotic War and who liberated Europe from fascism, to create preconditions for a new world order by asserting their dominance in various parts of the planet,” the head of state said.

Alexander Lukashenko noted that in recent years traditional international security institutions are not always able to efficiently confront global challenges. These threats cannot be eliminated by countries on their own; they can be confronted only by concerted effort. In this context, an important role is played by special services and their ability to analyze and anticipate various developments.

“We should not expect other countries to provide us with efficient recipes of countering challenges and threats of regional security. We are responsible for the stability in our land and we should come up with joint mechanisms to respond to destabilizing factors,” the Belarusian leader said.

Alexander Lukashenko is convinced that in the CIS format it is the CIS security services that are expected to identify collective security risks, challenges and threats and create pre-conditions for smooth and successful development of the Commonwealth and each member state in particular. This development should be progressive and smooth, without a shocking therapy and social distress.

The President noted that Belarus is ready to share its best practices in maintaining security during large-scale events. “We have demonstrated it during the recent sports event and proved to the entire world that we are able to conduct this kind of global sports forums. I am convinced that this experience will be useful for our Azerbaijani friends who will host the first European Games in Baku next year,” the head of state said.

Alexander Lukashenko emphasized that a global uncertainty prompts the countries to ramp up joint effort to combat international terrorism, extremism, transnational destructive organizations, and cybercrime. “The efforts to combat international terrorism are coming to the fore. This problem is particularly relevant in the Middle East and Africa. However, extremist ideas have also been gaining ground in Europe and, unfortunately, in the CIS member states. Terrorism triggers far-reaching social clashes, causes damage to international relations, destabilizes the social and political situation. Destructive organizations are used to destroy entire economies. Therefore, we need to conduct a thorough analysis and efficiently identify terrorist threats and prevent the penetration of this plague into the CIS,” Alexander Lukashenko said.

The President urged to pay close attention to corruption: “We see, including by the example of our closest neighbors, that total corruption that turned into a state policy can lead to devastating consequences”.