Brussels, 26/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - Neighbourhood Policy and Justice and Home Affairs Commissioners Stefan Füle and Cecilia Malmström sent a letter to member states on Friday 23 March highlighting the need to make it easier for Belarusian citizens to enter the EU. Commissioner Füle tweeted on Friday that the two supported the people of Belarus. He said that he and Commissioner Malmström had called on EU member states to ease travel conditions for them.
In their letter, extracts of which have been obtained by Agence Europe, the commissioners state that “we should strive to make it easier for Belarusian citizens to travel to the EU and experience first hand the European values of freedom and democracy”. They set out options for issuing visas, for example, it should be possible to “reduce or waive fees for long-stay visas and residence permits” or “waive or reduce short-term visa fees for a whole range of categories of citizens”.
In the conclusions of the Council of 23 March, foreign affairs ministers restate their “readiness to launch negotiations for visa facilitation and readmission agreements which would enhance people-to-people contacts to the benefit of the Belarusian population at large”. They regret the failure by the Belarusian authorities to respond so far to the letter sent in June 2011 inviting them to start negotiations. They welcome that EU member states will “strive to make optimal use of the existing flexibilities offered by the Visa Code, in particular the possibilities to waive and reduce visa fees for certain categories of Belarusian citizens or in individual cases”. (CG/transl.rt)