MINSK, 11 January (BelTA) – The Belarusian Interior Ministry will work together with Russian government agencies to take additional measures with a view to suppressing attempts to abuse the regulations that allow foreigners to enter Belarus without visas, BelTA learned from Alexei Begun, Head of the Citizenship and Migration Department of the Belarusian Interior Ministry.
The official stressed: “Together with Russian colleagues we are going to take additional measures in order to suppress any attempts to exploit the visa-free entry procedures and to prevent such people from entering the Russian Federation.”
According to Alexei Begun, ways of making sure foreigners observe the rules of stay in the Union State of Belarus and Russia will be discussed during a joint session of the boards of the Belarusian and Russian interior ministries.
Apart from that, an interstate interagency working group works to produce coordinated recommendations on migration policy. An action plan to set up common migration space in the Union State of Belarus and Russia in 2017-2020 has been prepared.
The Belarusian Interior Ministry is in charge of making sure the foreigners, who will arrive via the Minsk National Airport without visas, observe the visa-free travel regulations. “We are going to use the information resources of the State Border Committee of Belarus and the Interior Ministry in order to control the arrival and timely departure of every person, who enters Belarus within the framework of the visa-free travel regulations,” explained Alexei Begun.
Those, who abuse the new visa rules, will face measures in line with the legislation. Including restrictions on visiting Belarus in the future, specified the official.
BelTA reported earlier that on 9 January Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko signed decree No.8, which stipulates how foreign citizens can enter or leave the country without visas. The document allows citizens of 80 countries to stay in Belarus for at most five days without visas, provided they cross the state border in the Minsk National Airport. The new regulations apply to citizens of 39 countries in Europe, including the entire European Union, as well as Brazil, Indonesia, the USA, Japan, and other countries.
