Charge d'affaires of the European Union in Belarus Jean-Eric Holzapfel said on January 5 that the simplification of visa regime with Belarus was the EU priority. According to the EU representative, the development of agreements on visa facilitation will depend on the mandate, which could be provided by the EU Council. So far there is no such mandate.
Jean-Eric Holzapfel says that the EU intends to achieve the mandate to make progress in visa issues, BelTA informs.
According to Telegraf, Poland has abolished the fee for issuance of national Polish visas for Belarusian citizens in the Polish consular offices in the territory of Belarus since January 1, 2011. Lithuania followed the example of Poland in this issue.
However, the Lithuanian authorities are not to cancel the charge for a national visa for Belarusian citizens unilaterally because of the current law on consular charges. However, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Belarus Andrei Savinykh said on December 4 that Belarus welcomed the initiative of Poland to introduce free national visas for Belarusian citizens.
