State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus explained

Agencyname:State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus
Nativenamea:Belarusian: Дзяржаўны пагранічны камітэт Рэспублікі Беларусь
Russian: Государственный пограничный комитет Республики Беларусь
Logocaption:Emblem of the State Border Guard Service
Flag:File:Flag of the border service of the Republic of Belarus.jpg
Flagcaption:Flag of the Border Guard Service
Preceding1:Soviet Border Troops
Country:Belarus
Constitution6:-->
Speciality1:border
Headquarters:24 Volodarsky Street, Minsk, Belarus
Minister1name:Major General Viktor Khrenin
Minister1pfo:Minister of Defense
Chief1name:Major General
Chief1position:Chairman of the Committee
Parentagency:Armed Forces of Belarus
Child1agency:Border Guard Service of Belarus
Child2agency:Border Guard Service Institute of Belarus
Activity6name:-->
Anniversary6:-->
Award6:-->

The State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, GPK (Belarusian: Дзяржаўны пагранічны камітэт Рэспублікі Беларусь, ДПК; Russian: Государственный пограничный комитет Республики Беларусь, ГПК) manages the international borders of Belarus. Its armed paramilitary force is known as the Border Guard Service (Belarusian: Пагранічная служба Беларусі; Russian: Пограничная служба Беларуси), It carries out committee orders and policy. The primary tasks of the State Border Committee include:[1] border policy and enhancing border security.

The service covers the borders with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.[2] [3]

History

The Border Committee was created by decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus on September 20, 1991. To manage the border units and subunits, the General Directorate of the Border Troops (Russian: Главное управление пограничных войск was established by order of the Supreme Soviet on January 15, 1992 under the Council of Ministers. To create a legal basis for their activities, the Supreme Council adopted Law No. 1908-XII “On the State Border of the Republic of Belarus”, and Law No. 1911-XII “On the Border Troops of the Republic of Belarus” on November 4–5, 1992. On August 19, 1993, a law was adopted by the Council of Ministers decree on the official creation of the Border Troops of Belarus. Between 1994 and 1997, the first border units were formed/deployed and agreements were made between Belarus' neighbors on cooperation between the border troops of Belarus and neighboring countries. On 11 January 1997 President Lukashenko signed decree renaming the General Directorate to State Committee of the Border Troops. In a September 2007 decree, President Alexander Lukashenko renamed the Border Troops of Belarus to the Border Service.[4]

On September 18, 2020, the committee announced it had tightened border security with Poland and Lithuania, calling up reserves to patrol the borders although Poland and Lithuania said their borders with Belarus remained open.[5]

After the start of the Belarus–EU border crisis, the leadership of the State Border Committee, including its chairman Lappo, was included in the sanctions lists of the European Union,[6] the United States[7] and Canada[8] [9] on December 2, 2021. Switzerland joined the EU sanctions on December 20.[10]

Structure

The Border Service of Belarus has 14 territorial units under its control:

PictureUnitFoundedNotesWebsite
Brest Border GroupNamed after Felix Dzerzhinsky.https://tops.gpk.gov.by/brest/
Lida Border Group
Smorgon Border Group
Grodno Border Group
Gomel Border Group
Pinsk Border Detachment
Polotsk Border Detachment
Mozyr Border Detachment
Border Control Detachment "Minsk"1945It serves Minsk National Airport.[11] https://tops.gpk.gov.by/opogk/
Dzerzhinsk Logistics Group2007https://tops.gpk.gov.by/gmto/komandovanie/
Communications and Support Group2014https://tops.gpk.gov.by/2007/
Border Guard Service Institute1993
Border Guard Military Hospital

Leadership

Chairmen

Chief of the General Directorate of Border Troops LeaderTerm of office
Took officeLeft office
Yevgeny BocharovStanislav ShushkevichAlexander LukashenkoFebruary 19, 1992August 30, 1994
Vasily MorkovkinAlexander LukashenkoSeptember 26, 1994September 4, 1996
Alexander PavlovskySeptember 4, 1996January 13, 1997
Chairman of the State Committee of the Border TroopsLeaderTerm of office
Took officeLeft office
Alexander PavlovskyAlexander LukashenkoJanuary 13, 1997April 10, 2007
Igor Rachkovsky April 10, 2007September 27, 2007
Chairman of the State Border CommitteeLeaderTerm of office
Took officeLeft office
Igor RachkovskyAlexander LukashenkoSeptember 27, 2007July 31, 2012
Alexander BoechkoAugust 2, 2012November 2, 2013
Leonid MaltsevNovember 2, 2013December 27, 2016
Anatoly LappoDecember 27, 2016 May 30, 2023
May 30, 2023Present

First Deputy Chairman

NameTerm of office
Took officeLeft office
Alexander PopovOctober 31, 1994July 14, 1996
Evgeny KovalevSeptember 24, 1996June 9, 2006
Vadim ZaitsevApril 10, 2007July 15, 2008
Andrey GorulkoAugust 29, 2008August 2, 2012
Alexey ZagorodniyAugust 2, 2012April 12, 2013
Igor ButkevichApril 12, 2013Present

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160607150009/http://gpk.gov.by/en/gpk/osnovnyie-zadachi-gospogrankomiteta.php . 7 June 2016 . 17 January 2022 . gpk.gov.by.
  2. Web site: State Border Committee. Gpk.gov.by. 23 January 2019. 13 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181213171556/http://gpk.gov.by/gpk/rukovodyashhiy-sostav.php. dead.
  3. Web site: Taras Seredyuk, the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus. 8 December 2017. 22 March 2019. 22 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190322235613/https://rovienna.iom.int/media/taras-seredyuk-state-border-committee-republic-belarus. dead.
  4. Web site: Указ Прэзiдэнта Рэспублiкi Беларусь ад 25 верасня 2007 г. № 448 "Аб некаторых пытаннях органаў пагранічнай службы" . 2019-03-22 . 2015-05-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150523153936/http://www.pravo.by/main.aspx?guid=3871&p0=p30700448&p2=%7BNRPA%7D . live .
  5. News: Belarus Tightens Border Security with Two EU Neighbors . Bloomberg.com . 18 September 2020 . 2020-09-19 . 2021-11-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211103082038/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-18/belarus-tightens-border-security-as-leader-threatens-closure . live .
  6. Web site: COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2021/2124 of 2 December 2021 implementing Article 8a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures in respect of Belarus. 2021-12-02. Official Journal of the European Union. en. 2021-12-23. 2021-12-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20211215212949/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2021:430I:FULL&from=EN. live.
  7. Web site: Belarus Designations; Publication of Belarus Directive 1 and related Frequently Asked Questions; Issuance of Belarus General License 5. 2 December 2021. 10 December 2021. United States Department of the Treasury. 10 December 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211210171349/https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20211202. live.
  8. Web site: Backgrounder: Belarus sanctions. 2 January 2022. Global Affairs Canada. 2 December 2021. 2 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220102153921/https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2021/12/belarus-sanctions.html. live.
  9. Web site: Canada sanctions Belarus over migrant crisis in concert with Western allies. 2 December 2021. 12 December 2021. The Globe and Mail. Steven Chase. 13 December 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211213000027/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canada-sanctions-belarus-over-migrant-crisis-in-concert-with-western/. live.
  10. Web site: Searching for subjects of sanctions . live . State Secretariat for Economic Affairs . 2021-12-28 . 2021-09-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210909222414/https://www.seco.admin.ch/seco/en/home/Aussenwirtschaftspolitik_Wirtschaftliche_Zusammenarbeit/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/exportkontrollen-und-sanktionen/sanktionen-embargos/sanktionsmassnahmen/suche_sanktionsadressaten.html .
  11. Web site: История Отряда пограничного контроля "Минск".