| 18 May 2007 Igor Rachkovsky, new Chairman of the State Committee for Border Troops, intends to modernize but actually liquidate the border troops. As he stated at a news conference 18 May, there has long since been no need to have border troops as a separate arm. There are no border troops in Europe since quite a while ago. They remain in Belarus only. “Just pay attention: there are no border troops anywhere in the world anymore. There are no border troops in Europe”, Rachkovsky said. “The Belarusian border agency has been increasingly taking over law-enforcement functions, which calls for appropriate changes in border troops staff lists, and a structure being developed now”. Rachkovsky did not say when exactly the border troops would cease their existence in Belarus. Last week, a meeting of the SCBT board was held to discuss a new development concept of the border agency for 2008-2017.
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