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August 28 – September 3, 2017

Belarusian army is forced to change information policy

The situation has not changed
Belarusian army is forced to change information policy

The Belarusian Defence Ministry has demonstrated greater openness, which was a forced step dictated by external circumstances, independent of the generals’ will. Minsk is fighting for credits from all parties in the ongoing confrontation in Eastern Europe, which, inter alia, requires greater transparency of military activity in Belarus.

On July 12th, 2017, the Belarusian Defence Ministry organised a briefing on West-2017 military drill at the OSCE Security Forum in Vienna. According to the Ministry, about 150 journalists have already accredited to cover the West-2017 exercise and accreditation is still ongoing.

On August 29th, 2017, Chief of the General Staff of the Belarusian Army Oleg Belokonev for the first time held a briefing dedicated to the forthcoming Belarusian-Russian drill. Although the briefing itself was not sufficient in terms of the format and information provided, it was a significant step towards greater transparency of the military.

Negative media coverage of the forthcoming Russo-Belarusian military drill and fears of political provocations have prompted the Belarusian military leadership to change its information policy. The Defence Ministry comprehends the importance of publicity in contemporary society and, despite the inherent military conservatism, has demonstrated willingness to change approaches. Having stepped over their fears and insecurities, the generals, evidently with the approval of the Belarus’ top political leadership, have demonstrated greater openness in the preparation and conduct of the “West-2017” exercise (albeit still insufficient in modern society). The Defence Ministry has ambitions to become a moderator on defence issues in Belarus.

The process aimed to enhance the transparency of the Belarusian military has been launched, but it will take a while to implement, due to both, the inherent conservatism of the army and limited technical and human capacity of the Defence Ministry required to ensure high-quality information support for the Ministry activity. Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry has the idea of the importance of publicity in modern conditions, and has acknowledged its weakness in this regard.

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