BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/11/2010

Russia, Belarus focus on joint visa policy

Russia and Belarus may establish a joint entry visa, in accordance with the initiative put forward by Chairman of the State Border Committee of Belarus Igor Rachkovsky and head of the Russian Border Guard Service Vladimir Pronichev.

At present, the two parties are actively exchanging databases of undesirable foreign nationals, but that is not good enough. The joint visa policy will ensure security of inner boundaries between countries within the Customs Union, Igor Rachkovsky said in an interview with the Voice of Russia.

We have set out to prepare a document together with General Pronichev and submit it to the presidents of both states. Citizens will have to apply for the joint entry visa to the Consulates General of either the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus. Only law-abiding citizens posing no potential threat will be entitled to travel freely across both countries, Rachkovsky said.

At the same time, the Customs Union is implementing a number of projects aimed at ensuring economic security of its members. The heads of customs services of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have recently coordinated the order of interaction to block smuggling and repress other customs-related crimes. Several smuggling tunnels were shut down in the past several months only.

The unification of national legislations and prosecution principles for customs offences has become one of the Customs Union's top-priority strategic lines. Ten more agreements are planned to be prepared by the end of this year to establish a unified legal framework of its member-states.

Source:

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/11/29/35843890.html


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