VITEBSK, 26 November (BelTA) – Belarus and the EU can sign the agreement on visa facilitation and the readmission agreement before the end of 2019, Head of the European Union's Delegation to Belarus Dirk Schuebel told the media in Vitebsk on 26 November, BelTA has learned.
According to Dirk Schuebel, the EU Council has approved the decision to sign the agreement on visa facilitation. “We are currently working hard on the readmission agreement. I cannot say when exactly these documents will be signed. I hope this will happen this year," the diplomat said.
The new EU Commission will start working on 1 December, he informed. The 2020 budget of the initiatives and projects in Belarus will be about €31 million.
A reminder, the European Council has approved a decision to sign the visa facilitation agreement with Belarus. In September, Belarus completed the domestic procedures on the visa facilitation and readmission agreements with the European Union. The head of state made a decision to sign the visa facilitation and readmission agreements with the European Union. This step was preceded by a long negotiating process with the European Union, which resulted in mutually acceptable texts of the agreements.
On 26 November, Vitebsk City Hall played host to a meeting between Dirk Schuebel, Head of the European Union's Delegation to Belarus, ambassadors of several EU countries to Belarus and the city authorities. On 27 November, the Vitebsk Oblast Executive Committee will host an information meeting EU-Belarus Cooperation: Vitebsk Oblast” to review the experience of implementing joint projects and discuss plans for the future. The main themes will include road construction, energy, ecology and transport. The program of the meeting will also comprise the inauguration of an inclusive part on the island of the Vitba River. The project was implemented as part of a grant from the Polish Embassy in Belarus.
