The EU invited Belarus to sign agreements on visa facilitation and readmission in January

The EU invited the Belarusian side to sign agreements on visa facilitation and readmission in January in Brussels, reports tut.by.

The EU delegation was led by Luke Devin, Deputy managing Director for Europe and Central Asia of the European external action service. The European Commission was represented by Lawrence Meredith, Director of Eastern neighbourhood and institution-building, as well as representatives from many of the commissions ' branch offices. The Belarusian delegation was headed by Deputy foreign Minister Oleg Kravchenko, which included representatives of sectoral ministries and departments. As before, experts and representatives of Belarusian non-governmental organizations also participated in some parts of the meeting and exchanged views with delegations.

On December 19, the EU Council approved the decision to sign a readmission agreement with Belarus. But for it to come into force, it must be published in the official journal of the EU.

In February 2020, the new rules for issuing visas by the European Union will come into force. But even if all the documents are signed in January, and there will be an exchange of ratifications, Belarusians will have to pay 80 euros for a visa instead of 60 euros (that's how much Schengen costs for us now) or instead of 35 euros (that's how much visas will cost after the adoption of the agreement with the EU). And only from March the cost of "Schengen" for Belarusians will decrease.