Belarus will not publish lists of banned European and American politicians. This was stated by the head of information department, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Belarus, Andrei Savinykh on March 31. "The lists won't be published, while the specific information could be obtained by these people when applying for a Belarusian visa," he said.
According to Andrei Savinykh, the position of the Belarusian side on this issue has remained unchanged. «Foreign Ministry hasn’t mentioned any quantification of the list, and it is not a mirror image of the EU list,» the office representative reminded, BelTA informs.
Closure of OSCE Office in Minsk Not to Reduce Cooperation of Belarus with Organization, MFA
FM spokesman also said that the closure of the OSCE Office in Minsk will not reduce the level of cooperation with this organization. Moreover, Belarus is counting on further intensification of relations with the OSCE, explained the Foreign Ministry.
«We have repeatedly stated that Belarus intends to cooperate with the OSCE in all aspects of the organization’s program. The presence of OSCE observers over trials confirms this fact,» said Andrei Savinykh.
Customs Union Countries Solving Problem of Passport-Visa Regime Unification, MFA
Andrei Savinykh has also confirmed that the Customs Union countries are now deciding the question of passport and visa regime unification. A team of experts is being currently formed to identify issues that may enter the scope of the unification process.
«It’s hard to predict the outcome of this work, but it is most likely to affect the regime of foreign citizens’ staying in the three countries. Experts can address issues, related to the use of foreign labor force in the territory of the Customs Union. There may be questions of unification of rules and conditions for issuing visas,» said Andrei Savinykh.
Foreign Ministry spokesman also did not rule out the possibility of considering issues, related to harmonization of visa regimes with third countries. «But to say more on this topic, one should enable the experts to accumulate the necessary practical results,» said Andrei Savinykh.
As Telegraf previously reported, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus has prepared a response to the visa and economic sanctions, imposed by the EU and U.S. against Belarusian officials and President Alexander Lukashenko. The list of persons, banned from entering Belarus, comprised individuals, «taking destructive actions against Belarus and damaging international cooperation.»
In response to the Western sanctions Belarusian authorities will tighten control over illegal financing of political activity by foreign socio-political associations, as well as their representation, in the territory of Belarus.
