Belarus calls for arms export control

A quarter of a million people in the world are killed by firearms each year, according to UN estimates. Belarus has a multi-stage export control system to prevent military products from getting into the hands of criminals. However, arms export control mechanisms do not always work.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Yuri Ambrazevich spoke about this at the meeting of the UN Security Council. The Belarusian diplomat outlined Minsk's proposals to minimize the risk of conventional weapons becoming illegal.

Yuri Ambrazevich, Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus:

“First. Strict compliance with international and national export control commitments, avoiding any exemptions in favor of narrow political interests. In this context, one should refrain from arms deliveries to the territories of conflicts, even if the arms embargo of the UN Security Council is not imposed on a particular region. Second. Existing multilateral arrangements and national legislation, where necessary, should be strengthened with provisions for mandatory controls on re-exports of military goods, including the inadmissibility of re-exports without the written consent of the original exporter. Third. We consider it necessary to instruct the UN Security Council to regularly consider the issue of arms transfers to armed conflict zones in order to prevent their use for further escalation of such conflicts.”

The Belarusian diplomat also noted that illicit flows of small arms and other conventional weapons create fertile ground for the growth and strengthening of terrorist structures and transnational organized crime.