State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus
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 service covers the borders with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. 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 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. 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. 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. Tasks. Primary tasks of the State Border Committee include: The Border Service of Belarus has 14 territorial units under its control. Structure. Border Service Institute. The Border Service Institute is the official training service of the GPK and is a higher educational institution in the Republic. The institute was founded in August 1993 in accordance with a Resolution  of the Council of Ministers on the basis of the Minsk Higher Military-Political-Arms School.