Everything and even more than that is being done in Belarus to enable the army and the nation to defend the country. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement during an army parade held on 3 July to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Belarus’ liberation from Nazi invaders, BelTA has learned. Aleksandr Lukashenko stated: “In the name of peace we reinforce and develop the Armed Forces, perfecting the entire military organization of the state. Our nation needs to know and see that everything and even more than that is being done for the army as well as territorial defense forces and the people’s militia to be ready to defend the country. And you know they are ready.” The president noted that there is a lot of talk about weapons and ammunition but people are the key. “After the situation at our southern borders deteriorated yesterday, thousands of calls were placed to military enlistment offices and army units, to our military, to generals: ‘We want to join the army. Give us weapons. We will defend our Motherland!’ No need. Work calmly. You have a lot of workdays ahead of you. And we, people in uniform, are capable of not only defending today. We are capable of preventing any provocation at the state borders of our country,” the commander-in-chief stated. Belarus has state-of-the-art weapons and hardware. The country’s defense industry is actively developing. Domestic missile systems, small arms, artillery shells, unmanned aerial vehicles, communication and automatization solutions are being created. “The things a modern war needs,” the head of state noted. “We will demonstrate a lot today. But as I’ve already said, people are our key strength. Soldiers and officers are heroes of the present age. They already demonstrate courage and strength of spirit. Our parade is recognition of the professionalism and dedication to duty of military personnel, border service personnel, fighters and officers of security agencies, which do everything to prevent provocations staged by unfriendly states from growing into a full-scale military conflict,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed. The president said that less than 5% of the army personnel were taking part in the parade. The other military personnel continue taking care of their duties. “We are immensely grateful to them. We know how complicated and difficult it is. We know how hard it is. But no one else can accomplish this task. It is their destiny. The Belarusian nation fed them and raised them for this purpose,” the head of state stated.
