BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

25/01/2007

Belarus denies it became channel for illegal migration to Russia

MINSK, January 24 (Itar-Tass) -- Belarusian border guards effectively protect the external border of the union state with Russia and will not let terrorists into Belarus or Russia, the State Committee of Border Guard Troops said in Wednesday.

"We are ready to continue to fulfil our contractual obligations as part of ensuring the security of the Union State," deputy head of the State Committee of Border Guard Troops, Major-General Vadim Zaitsev said.

In his words, Belarusian border guards will "effectively block channels used for unlawful activities on external borders, including in the interests of Russia's security."

This year alone, Belarusian border guards have gathered, and shared with Russia, information about more than 200 persons from third countries whose entry into Russia could have been undesirable.

The committee's statement came as a response to remarks made by first deputy head of the Russian Border Guard Service Vladimir Pronichev. He said at the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, earlier in the day that a loophole on the Russian-Belarusian border is used by citizens from third countries to enter Russia illegally.

"Russian border guards have recently stopped dozens of attempts by Georgian citizens to illegally enter Russia from Belarus. We don't rule out that this channel may be used by members of terrorist organisations and cross-border criminal groups. Russian services are taking measures to bust this channel of illegal migration," Pronichev said.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11186934&PageNum=0