MINSK, 28 February (BelTA) – A delegation of the European Parliament visited the Bruzgi checkpoint on the Belarusian-Polish border on 28 February. It studied the infrastructure of the checkpoint, border control and customs control procedures, BelTA learned from the State Border Committee of Belarus.
The delegation was made familiar with technical equipment at the border checkpoint. The European MPs took interest in the effectiveness of measures taken by the State Border Committee on the external border of the European Union to fight transboundary crime.
Since Belarus introduced a visa waiver, the number of foreigners at its border checkpoints has notably increased. Facilitating visa procedures will enable even more Belarusians to visit the EU.
Developing border infrastructure is the most important part of our program of cooperation with Belarus. We have come here also to look at the situation on the border, at this checkpoint, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Belarus Karin Karlsbro noted. According to her, the European Parliament is set to discuss matters regarding the EU-Belarus common border.
The time when borders were seen as barriers has passed. Border crossing should not take a lot of time and we should devote all the necessary efforts to ease these procedures, Karin Karlsbro said.
The delegation saw advantages of setting up a transport and logistics center close to a border checkpoint. They got familiar with the plans to introduce pedestrian traffic and implement a queue management system at the Bruzgi border checkpoint.
The agenda also included matters of mutually beneficial cooperation with the EU member states in addressing common challenges and threats on the EU-Belarus border. The parties agreed that they need to be actively involved in activities to improve throughput capacity of the checkpoints, which will help advance their trade and economic relations. They also stressed the importance of cross-border cooperation programs under the Eastern Partnership initiative.
Photos courtesy of the State Border Committee
