10/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - Lithuania calls for visa facilitation for Belarusian nationals. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaité sent a letter on Monday 10 January to President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and to European Commision President José Manuel Barroso, calling on the EU to seek ways to facilitate travel and the visa regime within the Schengen area for Belarusian citizens. She says that bringing in this facilitation, with, for example, free delivery of visas, as is already offered by Poland, could help the democratisation process in Belarus. Grybauskaité says that these steps should be taken irrespective of any sanctions that might be imposed by the EU on the Belarusian administration. She suggests, too, discussing these issues at the forthcoming meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council on 31 January and the European Council on 4 February. EU High Rrepresentative Catherine Ashton is due to meet Belarusian Foreign Minister Serguei Martynov this week. (A.By./transl.rt)