President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko congratulated the staff and veterans of the Interior Ministry with the Police Day on March 4. "Together we've preserved and strengthen peace and stability, have saved our Motherland from chaos and lawlessness. Your strength is in unity with the people. Belarusian citizens are confident to always receive your help and support," he said.
«Your dedication, high level of responsibility and professionalism determine the readiness of the Interior to effectively maintain law and order and public security, to really protect property and social rights of citizens, guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus,» the message reads.
The President stressed that «state and society highly appreciate your hard work, devotion to the Motherland, devotion to duty and law.» He also wished «success, good health, happiness and prosperity.»
Veterans against Renaming of Militia into Police, MIA
As stated by Deputy Interior Minister of Belarus Oleg Pekarski, Belarus militia will not be renamed into the police. «Otherwise, we won’t be understood by the veterans, who survived the horrors of war and suffered from the policemen,» he said, «Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus» reported.
However, the deputy minister agreed that militia had gone down in the peoples’ estimation after the dispersal of opposition protest on December 19, 2010 in the country. «Of course, we monitor the situation, but every citizen should understand that if not for the militia on December 19, then it would no longer be called militia. I think that public confidence would have immediately dropped. Opinion polls will show how the events on December 19 have affected our image,» said Oleg Pekarski.
As Telegraf previously reported, chairman of BPF in Mahiliou voblat Dmitri Soloviov applied to the Interior Minister of Belarus Anatoli Kuleshov on March 3 with the requirement to dismiss OMON officers, battered by Russian citizens Artem Breus and Ivan Gaponov, due to proffesional unsuitability.
