European Union's Delegation to Belarus Head Andrea Wiktorin / BELTA
Belarus and the European Union will have a visa facilitation agreement signed by 2 February 2020. On that day, the changes to the EU visa code resulting in a higher cost of a Schengen visa will come into force. The fee will go up to 80 euro. When the agreement is signed, Schengen visas will cost 35 euro for Belarusians.
Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus Andrea Wiktorin has described the prospects of the agreement to journalists: “I cannot comment on the exact date. However, all the documents have been prepared and both sides are conducting the required legal procedures,” BELTA quotes the diplomat as saying.
A designated bilateral commission is expected to finish the work by November 2019.
There has been huge progress in Belarus-EU relations in the past few years, Wiktorin noted. For instance, the assistance rendered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to Belarus has doubled.