The State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus () is a state security agency that manages the international borders of Belarus. Its armed paramilitary force is known as the Border Guard Service, carrying out committee orders and policy. The primary tasks of the State Border Committee include: border policy and enhancing border security.
The service covers the borders with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
History The State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus traces its history back to the troops that oversaw the border with the German Empire in 1918 and the formal creation of the Soviet Border Troops in the same year.
In 1939, a border with Germany was established, but the previous Polish-Soviet border was not liquidated. Upon the German invasion of the Soviet Union, approximately 16,000 of the 20,000 border troops became casualties in the first days of the war. The service was essentially recreated from scratch in 1944.
On September 20, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus passed legislation subordinating the border troops to itself, effectively creating a national service. Most of the legislation governing the service was adopted by August 1993. From 1994 to 1997, the first border units were formed and deployed, and agreements were made with neighboring countries to facilitate cooperation between their respective border troops. On January 11, 1997, President Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree renaming the General Directorate to the State Committee of the Border Troops.
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.
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, the United States and Canada on December 2, 2021. Switzerland joined the EU sanctions on December 20.
Structure The Border Service of Belarus controls 11 territorial units, the Border Guard Institute, and a Military Hospital: UnitFoundedNotesBrest Border Group1944Named after Felix DzerzhinskyLida Border Group1997Smorgon Border Group1992Grodno Border Group1944Gomel Border Group1997Pinsk Border Detachment1993Polotsk Border Detachment1992Mozyr Border Detachment2014Border Control Detachment "Minsk"1945It serves Minsk National AirportLogistics Support Group1938Communications and Support Group2014Border Guard Service Institute1993Border Guard Military Hospital1994
Leadership
Chairmen Chief of the General Directorate of Border Troops LeaderRankTerm of officeTook officeLeft officeEvgeny BocharovStanislav Shushkevich Alexander LukashenkoLieutenant generalFebruary 19, 1992August 30, 1994Vasily MorkovkinAlexander LukashenkoMajor generalSeptember 26, 1994September 4, 1996Alexander PavlovskyLieutenant generalSeptember 4, 1996January 13, 1997Chairman of the State Committee of the Border TroopsLeaderRankTerm of officeTook officeLeft officeAlexander PavlovskyAlexander LukashenkoLieutenant generalJanuary 13, 1997April 10, 2007Igor RachkovskyMajor generalApril 10, 2007September 27, 2007Chairman of the State Border CommitteeLeaderRankTerm of officeTook officeLeft officeIgor RachkovskyAlexander LukashenkoMajor generalSeptember 27, 2007July 31, 2012Alexander BoechkoColonelAugust 2, 2012November 2, 2013Leonid MaltsevColonel generalNovember 2, 2013December 27, 2016 Anatoly LappoLieutenant generalDecember 29, 2016 May 30, 2023Konstantin MolostovMajor generalMay 30, 2023IncumbentSource: State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus
First Deputy Chairman NameRankTerm of officeNotesTook officeLeft officeAlexander PopovMajor general October 31, 1994July 14, 1996Died in the line of dutyEvgeny KovalevSeptember 24, 1996June 9, 2006Vadim ZaitsevApril 10, 2007July 15, 2008Andrey GorulkoAugust 29, 2008August 2, 2012Alexey ZagorodniyColonelAugust 2, 2012April 9, 2013Igor ButkevichMajor general April 12, 2013August 21, 2024Andrei FilatovColonelAugust 21, 2024Incumbent
See also Visa policy of Belarus
References