In less than a week after the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus ratified today visa facilitation and readmission agreements, the Belarus Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Oleg Kravchenko has asserted that Belarus may soon start discussing a visa-liberalization agreement with the EU.

Deputy Minister of Kravchenko told Members of the Parliament that the country might soon start talks with the EU for Belarussians to be able in the future to travel visa-free to the Schengen Area member countries while explaining the prospects of Belarus-EU relations, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“The agenda includes the negotiations on a partnership and cooperation agreement and the completion of talks on Belarus’ accession to the WTO. In the medium term, we may start discussing visa-free entry to the Schengen countries for Belarusians,” the Deputy Minister said.

He also asserted that the recently ratified agreement on visa facilitation has greatly simplified travel conditions for the European countries.

“Today we are talking about the Schengen visa simplification, and in the future, we will be talking about its abolition,” Kravchenko said still referring to the possibility that discussions on the visa-liberalization deal may start soon.

Kravchenko also told to Belarusian MPs that the country is not seeking for a so-called European perspective but rather the interest of the government is the cooperation of responsible neighbours who do not create problems for each other but help when it is necessary.

He also brought up the fact that Belarus helped a number of countries to return their citizens stranded abroad due to closed borders and cancelled air flights.

“The United States and the UK thanked Belarus, especially Belavia, for helping their citizens to return home. We sincerely thanked the UK for the return of Belarusians from Brazil through London. These are vivid examples of the fact that during the difficult times we are able to stand above differences,” he asserted.

The Belarus House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus ratified the visa facilitation agreement with the European Union on April 2.

The deal foresees a visa fee waiver for several categories of Belarussian travellers, according to the purpose of the trip, as well as a decreased visa fee for the rest from 80 euros as it is currently to 35 euros.

Moreover, Belarusians who travel to the Schengen area frequently are eligible to get multiple-entry visas with extended periods of validity using a simplified procedure.