Belarus is eager to form good-neighbourly ties with the European Union, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said in the course of Monday’s meeting with Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde and her Finnish counterpart Finland Pekka Haavisto.
According to him, Belarus is interested in the best practices of the European Union in many fields. At the same time, the Belarusian leader stressed the need to complete the process of developing a legal framework and sign pending agreements ‘without preliminary terms’.
“If we have already prepared certain agreements and realized that we need to sign them and move in this direction, we should not put it on the back burner,” the presidential press service quotes Lukashenka.
In September, the European Commission submitted the signing of the Agreement on visa facilitation with Belarus to the working bodies of the Council of the European Union. The cost of a Schengen visa for citizens of Belarus will be reduced from €60 to €35 two months after the signing of the Treaty on Visa Facilitation and Readmission by Belarus and the European Union.
At the same time, the following categories of persons will benefit from a full waiver of the visa fee: children under the age of 12, persons with disabilities, close relatives, members of official delegations participating in government activities, pupils, students and post-graduate students, representatives of civil society organisations, humanitarian cases and persons participating in scientific, cultural, artistic activities and sport events.
“If all necessary actions have been taken, we will be happy to sign the agreement on reducing the cost of single- and multiple-entry visas to €35,” Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus Dirk Schuebel said in October.
In early October, Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was reported to have cancelled her visit to Belarus. Earlier, Andrea Wiktorin, a former Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, said that Federica Mogherini might arrive in our country for ‘signing the visa facilitation agreement’.
Last week, the Council of the European Union reported authorising the decision on signing the agreement between the EU and the Republic of Belarus on the facilitation of the issuance of visas.
Meanwhile, starting from February 2020, Schengen visas may become much more expensive for Belarusians if Minsk and Brussels fail to agree.
