The State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, GPK (; ) manages the

international borders Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. Its armed paramilitary force is known as the Border Guard Service (; ), It carries 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 Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

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 ( 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

' 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 A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

, President

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

renamed the Border Troops of Belarus to the Border Service. On September 18, 2020, the committee announced it had tightened border security with

and

, 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.

History

Tasks

Structure

Leadership

Chairmen

First Deputy Chairman

See also

References