At the moment, Belarus is not ready to shift to a full contract army, and military service by conscription will remain in place for the medium-term period, Belarusian Defense Minister Andrei Ravkov said.
“It would be premature to shift to a contract army at the current stage. Anyway, the draft will exist in the medium-term period,” Ravkov said in a program aired by the Belarus 1 television channel.
Some countries, which had switched earlier to a contract army, resumed the draft at some point, the minister said.
“The reason is not far to seek: Ukraine, for example. They were declaring a shift from the draft to a contract army for several years. But the draft resumed immediately as soon as something happened,” he said.
“Conscription service enables our small country, with a small population, to prepare the necessary mobilization reserves very quickly,” the Belarusian defense minister said.
Belarus is ready to enlarge the share of contract servicemen, Ravkov said. “We are trying to enlarge this component the best we can. But we are after quality, not quantity,” the minister said.
