State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus

Jurisdictional structureOperations jurisdictionBelarusSpecialist jurisdictionOperational structureHeadquarters24 Volodarsky Street, Minsk, BelarusElected officer responsibleAgency executiveParent agencyArmed Forces of BelarusChild agenciesWebsitegpk.gov.by

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]

Tasks

Structure

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

Picture	Unit	Founded	Notes	Website
	Brest Border Group		Named 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"	1945	It serves Minsk National Airport.[11]	https://tops.gpk.gov.by/opogk/
	Dzerzhinsk Logistics Group	2007		https://tops.gpk.gov.by/gmto/komandovanie/
	Communications and Support Group	2014		https://tops.gpk.gov.by/2007/
	Border Guard Service Institute	1993
	Border Guard Military Hospital

Leadership

Chairmen

Chief of the General Directorate of Border Troops	Leader	Term of office
		Took office	Left office
Yevgeny Bocharov	Stanislav Shushkevich Alexander Lukashenko	February 19, 1992	August 30, 1994
Vasily Morkovkin	Alexander Lukashenko	September 26, 1994	September 4, 1996
Alexander Pavlovsky		September 4, 1996	January 13, 1997
Chairman of the State Committee of the Border Troops	Leader	Term of office
		Took office	Left office
Alexander Pavlovsky	Alexander Lukashenko	January 13, 1997	April 10, 2007
Igor Rachkovsky		April 10, 2007	September 27, 2007
Chairman of the State Border Committee	Leader	Term of office
		Took office	Left office
Igor Rachkovsky	Alexander Lukashenko	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

First Deputy Chairman

Name	Term of office
	Took office	Left office
Alexander Popov	October 31, 1994	July 14, 1996
Evgeny Kovalev	September 24, 1996	June 9, 2006
Vadim Zaitsev	April 10, 2007	July 15, 2008
Andrey Gorulko	August 29, 2008	August 2, 2012
Alexey Zagorodniy	August 2, 2012	April 12, 2013
Igor Butkevich	April 12, 2013	Present

See also

• Visa policy of Belarus

References