Smolensk: Entry point may be set up at Belarus-Russia border


The issue of establishing an international border crossing point at the Russia-Belarus border was discussed at Wednesday’s meeting of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Smolensk region governor Alexei Ostrovsky.

The point may be set up in the village of Krasnaya Gorka. According to the Russian side, foreign tourists and investors cannot enter the territory of Russia through Smolensk region.

“This exerts negative influence on attracting investment to the region, as well as the development of tourism and international cooperation,” the press release by the Smolensk region administration reads.

According to Smolensk officials, 75% of cargoes from Europe get to Russia through Smolensk.

Formally, there has been no border control between Belarus and Russia since 1995. Soon after the introduction of a visa-free regime in Belarus, the Russians reconstructed the border zone and stopped third countries citizens who went through Belarus from crossing the Russian border. They sent travellers to the nearest border points in Latvia and Ukraine.

The decision was made to ‘create the necessary conditions for the protection of the state border of the Russian Federation’. FSB offices in Smolensk, Pskov and Bryansk regions were tasked to set warning signs on the border, as well as fix the time and place of entering the border zone.

In January 2017, Belarus president Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s signed the decree ‘On the introduction of the visa-free entry and departure for foreign citizens’. The document introduced visa-free entry through the border checkpoint at the Minsk National Airport and the visa-free stay in Belarus for up to 5 days for the citizens of 80 states, including the entire European Union, Brazil, Indonesia, the USA, Japan. By now, the period of stay has been extended to 30 days.

belsat.eu

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