The Belarusian elite promises “visa-free”, forgetting about the coronavirus and the sad experience of Ukraine
The issue of visa-free entry for Belarusians to Schengen countries will arise in the medium term. Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Kravchenko announced this in the Belarusian Senate on Thursday, according to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
At the same time, he emphasized that Belarus does not intend to join the EU.
“On the agenda is the beginning of negotiations on concluding a partnership and cooperation agreement, the completion of negotiations on Belarus’ accession to the WTO. In the medium term, the question of visa-free entry of Belarusians into the Schengen countries will arise,” Kravchenko said.
He recalled that Belarus has significantly simplified the conditions for entry into its territory for citizens of European countries. “This was our unilateral decision. It does not mean the need for the same decision in response. But today we are talking about simplifying the process of obtaining Schengen visas, and in the future we will talk about their abolition,” the official said.
Kravchenko did not mention that now, due to the threat of the spread of coronavirus, the EU borders are closed indefinitely. For neighboring Ukraine and Moldova, this means the end of the visa-free regime. On the eve of the closure of borders, thousands of migrant workers urgently returned to the countries.
It should be noted that during the visa-free regime, Ukraine lost a significant share of its working-age population, which emigrated to Poland.