MINSK. Feb 7 (Interfax) - The Belarusian authorities began an extensive national security exercise on Tuesday, Belarusian Security Council State Secretary Alexander Volfovich said.
"A large-scale national security exercise of the national government bodies is taking place at the Military Academy on February 7-9. The exercise involves heads and officials of the Presidential Administration, the government, the Security Council State Secretariat, various ministries and departments, and local authorities, as well as representatives of the National Assembly," the Belarusian state-run news agency BelTA quoted Volfovich as saying.
"The exercise will elaborate algorithms of action of government agencies under various circumstances, which range from an emergency to a counterterrorist operation. We are a compact country, and all government agencies should work together and rapidly make decisions within limited time and with limited resources," he said.
"It is also important to adjust the system of swift information exchange and to clarify the procedure of interagency interaction," Volfovich said. "Should any government agencies have a deficit of forces and hardware, they will be compensated with capacities of the others. We should be prepared for any turn of events. This can be achieved only by training in highly realistic conditions," he said.
"Besides raising the preparedness of officials to rapidly react to various risks and challenges, the exercise allows assessing the Belarusian system of ensuring national security by government agencies and making the necessary adjustments if necessary. This is particularly relevant today, amid the tense international and regional situation and the escalation of tensions near the Belarusian border," Volfovich said.