Veterans, vigilantes, youths to patrol areas around polling stations

February 9, Pozirk. Veterans’ associations, vigilante groups and activists of the state-run youth union will assist the police in guarding polling stations during the parliamentary and local elections, interior ministry’s official Alaksandar Kupčenia has told journalists.
Starting February 19, the interior ministry and internal troops will be on high alert, guarding all polling stations 24/7, he noted.
Police officers will be stationed near the polling stations ready “to react and provide the necessary assistance to the election commissions in maintaining law and order,” the official said.
Rapid response groups will assist them, while all polling stations will be equipped with alarm buttons and video surveillance systems.
These measures should prevent offenses and incidents during the elections, Kupčenia stressed.
Belarus will hold elections for the House of Representatives and local councils from February 20 to 25.
The country has not held a single free and fair election since 1996, by standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Last year, the government decided against inviting OSCE observers.

Defense official warns of harsh reaction to possible airspace violations during elections
- Economy
- PoliticsKyiv uncovers Ukrainian conscripts’ escape route to BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCardinal Gugerotti to visit Belarus next weekThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBiełstat: industrial inventories up 36 percent in January-SeptemberThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- PoliticsŁatuška praises OSCE fact-finding mechanism for exposing transnational repressionThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- PoliticsReprisals: new political prisoner designations, censorship, special probeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityNumber of Belarusian asylum applicants in Poland rises tenfold in four yearsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyGDP grows by 1.6 percent in Q1–3, Biełstat saysThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyFarmers to get paid higher bonuses in first two years of employment after graduationThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsŁukašenka schedules people’s assembly for DecemberThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsLithuanian MP warns Vilnius against downgrading Cichanoŭskaja's securityThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityMinsk targets Kalinoŭski regiment members in special probeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyBelarus’ Catholic leader invites pope to visit the countryThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietySearch continues for missing Belarusian woman in Myanmar — envoyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- EconomyBelarus’ industrial output drops by 0.8 percentThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsRights groups identify eight more political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+