EU may soon begin talks on lower visa fees for Belarusians

The European Union will announce its readiness to enter into talks with Minsk on easier Schengen visa formalities and lower visa fees for Belarusian citizens in the near future, a representative of the German foreign ministry told a group of Belarusian reporters in Berlin on October 16, BelaPAN reported.

“The EU’s near-future plans regarding Belarus are to reduce the visa fee to €35,” said the official, who asked not to be named.

He noted that the 27-nation bloc was not interested in isolating Belarus and “leaving a blind spot on Europe’s map.”

“There’s no reason to treat Belarusian nationals differently from Ukrainians and Russians in terms of visa issuance, this contradicts common sense,” the official said.

He noted that the German embassy had issued some 100,000 visas to Belarusians in 2007. A third of the visas were free, he said.

BelaPAN