State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus

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 service covers the borders with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.[1][2]

State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus
Дзяржаўны пагранічны камітэт Рэспублікі Беларусь
Государственный пограничный комитет Республики Беларусь
Emblem of the State Border Guard Service
Emblem of the State Border Guard Service
Flag of the Border Guard Service
Flag of the Border Guard Service
Agency overview
FormedSeptember 20, 1991 (1991-09-20)
Preceding agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionBelarus
Specialist jurisdiction
  • National border patrol, security, and integrity.
Operational structure
Headquarters24 Volodarsky Street, Minsk, Belarus
Elected officer responsible
Agency executive
  • Major General Anatoly Lappo, Chairman of the Committee
Parent agencyArmed Forces of Belarus
Child agencies
Website
gpk.gov.by
One of the buildings of the committee in Minsk

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.[3]

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.[4]

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,[5] the United States[6] and Canada[7][8] on December 2, 2021. Switzerland joined the EU sanctions on December 20.[9]

Tasks

Primary tasks of the State Border Committee include:[10]

  • Border policy
  • Enhancing border security
  • Organization
  • Management

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

Structure
  • Brest Border Group
  • Lida Border Detachment
  • Smorgon border group
  • Grodno Border Group
  • Gomel Border Group
  • Pinsk Border Detachment
  • Polotsk Border Detachment
  • Mozyr Border Detachment
  • OPOGK "Minsk"
  • Dzerzhinsk Logistics Group
  • Communications and Support Team
  • Institute of Border Service
  • Border Guard Military Hospital

Border Service Institute
Border Service Institute headquarters in Minsk
Main article: Border Guard Service Institute of Belarus

The Border Service Institute is the official training service of the GPK and is a higher educational institution in the Republic. The institute was founded in August 1993 in accordance with a Resolution of the Council of Ministers on the basis of the Minsk Higher Military-Political-Arms School.

Leadership

General Directorate of Border Troops of the Republic of Belarus
  • Yevgeny Bocharov (February 19, 1992 - August 30, 1994)
  • Vasily Morkovkin (September 26, 1994 - September 4, 1996)
  • Alexander Pavlovsky (September 4, 1996 - January 13, 1997)

State Committee of the Border Troops
  • Alexander Pavlovsky (January 13, 1997 - April 10, 2007)
  • Igor Rachkovsky (April 10, 2007 - September 27, 2007)

State Border Committee
  • Igor Rachkovsky (September 27, 2007 - July 31, 2012)
  • Alexander Boechko (August 2, 2012 - November 2, 2013)
  • Leonid Maltsev (November 2, 2013 - December 27, 2016)
  • Anatoly Lappo (December 27, 2016 – Present)

See also

References
  1. "State Border Committee". Gpk.gov.by. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  2. "Taras Seredyuk, the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus". 8 December 2017. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  3. "Указ Прэзiдэнта Рэспублiкi Беларусь ад 25 верасня 2007 г. № 448 "Аб некаторых пытаннях органаў пагранічнай службы"". Archived from the original on 2015-05-23. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  4. "Belarus Tightens Border Security with Two EU Neighbors". Bloomberg.com. 18 September 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
  5. "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". Official Journal of the European Union. 2021-12-02. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  6. "Belarus Designations; Publication of Belarus Directive 1 and related Frequently Asked Questions; Issuance of Belarus General License 5". United States Department of the Treasury. 2 December 2021. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  7. "Backgrounder: Belarus sanctions". Global Affairs Canada. 2 December 2021. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  8. Steven Chase (2 December 2021). "Canada sanctions Belarus over migrant crisis in concert with Western allies". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  9. "Searching for subjects of sanctions". State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. Archived from the original on 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  10. "State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus". gpk.gov.by. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
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