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Belarus MFA comments on agreement on mutual recognition of visas with Russia

MINSK, 10 December (BelTA) - Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei spoke about the agreement on mutual recognition of visas with Russia as he talked to the media, BelTA has learned.

“As for the ratification of the agreement on mutual recognition of visas with Russia, you know that the president signed the relevant decree,” Vladimir Makei said. “We discussed this issue with my colleague Sergey Lavrov [Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs] as he visited Belarus some time ago. He assured that similar decisions will be taken by the Russian side soon."

Once Russia takes this decision, the parties will exchange the relevant letters, and the agreement will come into force within 30 days, the minister explained.

“I am convinced that once this pandemic is over, the agreement with Russia and our corresponding agreement with our European partners will yield results. We will see an increase in transit through Belarus, and, hopefully, an increase in tourists, business contacts, and so on,” the minister said.

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko has signed a law to ratify the intergovernmental agreement between Belarus and Russia on mutual recognition of visas and other issues related to the entry of foreign nationals and stateless persons to the territory of the Union State. Concluded in Minsk on 19 June 2020, the agreement is aimed at regulating migration processes within the states of the Union State Treaty. The document stipulates that foreign nationals and stateless persons will be granted the right to enter, exit, stay, and transit through the territory of Belarus and Russia on the basis of a visa of one of the states and identity documents. As a result, Belarus gets the right to issue visas valid on the territory of Russia.

The document does not extend to foreigners who come to Belarus as part of the visa-free program.

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