Belarusian lawmakers intend to ratify the visa facilitation and readmission agreements with the European Union at the opening of the spring session of the House of Representatives, Andrey Savinykh, Chairman of the parliamentary committee for internatonal affairs, said on Tuesday.
“We think that these agreements will be ratified on a priority basis – on April 2, April 3 at the latest,” TUT.by quotes the top official.
On March 24, the committee is to hold a meeting and discuss the two agreements. Then the project is expected to be sent for consideration of the Council of the House of Representatives.
Andrey Savinykh hopes that the visa facilitation agreement will have come into force by the time the COVID-19 pandemic is on the wane and people start to travel again.
On January 8, the European Union and Belarus signed a visa facilitation agreement and a readmission agreement. The visa facilitation agreement will make it easier for Belarusian citizens to acquire short-term visas to come to the European Union.
The agreements are to be submitted to the European Parliament for consent. The Council will then be able to formally conclude the ratification of both agreements. A ratification procedure is also required on the Belarusian side, through approval from Belarus National Assembly. The agreements could enter into force in June 2020 (on the first day of the second month following conclusion). Both agreements will enter into force on the same day.
On 2 February 2020, the revised EU Visa Code became effective; as part of it, an increase of the Schengen visa fee from €60 to €80 was introduced. However, this increase is called temporary by the EU. After the agreement on visa facilitation enters into force, the visa fee for Belarusians will be automatically reduced from €80 to €35.
