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BelarusDigest > All > Belarus-EU Visa-Free Travel: An Unrealistic Prospect?
Belarus-EU Visa-Free Travel: An Unrealistic Prospect?
Igar Gubarevich
The EUobserver reported last week that Belarus might start talks over a visa-free regime with the EU, citing senior officials from the Latvian EU presidency.
Many Belarusians reacted to this statement with expressions of surprise, satisfaction and hope,...
Image from www.novisa.by
Many Belarusians reacted to this statement with expressions of surprise, satisfaction and hope, but mostly incredulity. Indeed, a few days later, Maira Mora, the head of the EU Delegation to Belarus effectively ruled out the possibility of a short-term solution for abolishing the visa regime between Belarus and the EU.
In fact, in technical terms, Belarus is better prepared for visa-free travel with the EU than many other countries. However, no major breakthrough will come about until Minsk and Brussels find common language on the issues of human rights and democratic governance.
Is the Belarusian Government Afraid of Free Travel?
Public opinion goes (and some experts share this view) that the Belarusian government has no inherent interest in facilitating free travel between Belarus and other countries. People-to-people exchange and cross-border trade might undermine the current regime ideologically and economically.
In reality, the foreign ministry is routinely working on the liberalisation or abolition of visa regimes with over a dozen countries.
Over the past months, Belarusians gained the right to visit Turkey, Mongolia and Ecuador without visas. Visa-free travel to Israel and Brazil is simply waiting for the associated ratification procedures by all parties involved to be completed.
The government realises that the facilitation of foreign travel to Belarus is crucial for the development of trade and investment cooperation with the outside world. The visa hassle also undermines tourism, which could become an important source of hard-currency revenues for the country.
Is It a Hassle for a European to Get Visa to Belarus?
Despite popular belief, European citizens encounter a miniscule number of formalities when trying to secure a Belarusian visa.
Over recent years, the government has consistently eased the documentary requirements for visa seekers from most European countries. The only documents they need to submit now is their passport, a photograph, a filled-out application and medical insurance. An invitation letter is no longer required in most cases.
The visa process takes five working days. The delay can be expedited to 48 hours for an extra fee. Unlike the Schengen or a US visa, the traveller can get a Belarusian visa in the Minsk International Airport, the only international flight gateway into the country.
Despite popular belief, European citizens encounter a miniscule number of formalities when trying to get a Belarusian visa Read more
The new visa rules, which entered into force in January 2015, simplified the process of getting a multiple-entry visa for European citizens. Consular officers now ask for fewer documents and can issue visas for up to three years to business travellers and humanitarian workers. Athletes and students will face fewer formalities as well.
On the other side of this is a multi-year Schengen visa, an exceptionally rare item.
For a considerable period of time, citizens from more prosperous Baltic States and Poland have paid much less for a single-entry visa to Belarus (€25) than Belarusians have to pay for a similar Schengen visa (€60).
This January, Belarus dramatically reduced its visa fees for US and UK citizens. They went down to a uniform price of €60 for a single-entry visa, down from the $160 for US and £75 for UK citizens. With this move, the authorities are seeking to stimulate these governments to adopt similar measures.
Belarus made all of these visa liberalisation measures unilaterally as gestures of goodwill. Ironically, Westerners rarely have hardly taken notice, much less shown appreciation for these changes. They tend to discuss Belarus' visa policy in terms of their ability to travel visa-free to most other countries, all while forgetting the very restrictive and often humiliating visa procedures that their own governments maintain for Belarusians.
Will Europe Facilitate Travel for Belarusians?
During the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius in November 2013, Belarus' Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei announced the launch of negotiations between Minsk and Brussels of a visa facilitation agreement.
Few people know that Belarus already agreed on visa talks back in 2008 Read more
If the parties reach the agreement, the entire visa process will be made easier for the Belarusians. The visa fees will be reduced to €35 from €60, more people will be exempt from these fees (children, atheletes, journalists, students, scientists), all paperwork for applying will be streamlined and more multiple-entry visas will be issued.
The mass media in Belarus and abroad have claimed that the Belarusian authorities have at long last abandoned their long-standing opposition to such talks. Few people know, however, that Minsk officially communicated its willingness to engage in the visa facilitation process back in 2008.
It took Brussels two years to get a mandate to hold negotiations. Around the same time the Belarusian regime cracked down on the opposition in the aftermath of the December 2010 presidential election. The EU understandably froze all of its cooperation projects with Belarus as a result.
Talks finally began in 2014, and two rounds of negotiations have taken place to date. On 12-13 June in Minsk, the Belarusian delegation submitted several amendments to the standard EU draft.
Both Minsk and Brussels are reluctant to disclose much in the way of information about the ongoing talks. A few days before the second round of talks, which took place in Brussels on 24-25 November, MFA spokesperson Dzmitry Mironchyk said
Our proposals seek to ensure that citizens have an exhaustive list of documents they must provide to the embassy… They should not be ping-ponged to bring certificates, additional documents and so on.
The most serious stumbling block on the way to the prompt conclusion of the talks is Belarus' insistence that the agreement provide for visa-free travel for diplomatic passport holders.
Belarus already has a visa-free travel arrangement for diplomats with Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Their demands are nothing out of the ordinary on this matter. The EU visa facilitation agreements with Azerbaijan and Armenia provides for visa-free travel for diplomats. However, the European delegation has no mandate to negotiate such an arrangement with Belarus.
Ironically, if the parties work out a parity agreement on visas, it would entail a worsening of the visa regime for European citizens, as Belarus is several steps ahead of the EU in its visa facilitation.
Both parties would like to have the agreement ready to sign at the Riga summit of the Eastern European Partnership in May 2015. The next round of talks, which should take place in Minsk in February this year, may shed more light on whether this goal is attainable or not.
Visa-Free Travel to Europe: A Pie in the Sky?
On 12 January, the EUobserver cited Latvia's Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics as saying that there were prospects for starting talks on a visa-free regime between Belarus and the EU. At the same time, a Latvian foreign ministry official immediately stated that they would be conditional and based on the release of the remaining political prisoners.
Talks on the abolition of visas are a logical next step after visa facilitation Read more
Serious doubts remain about the feasibility of a visa liberalisation agreement in the short- or even medium-term. In fact, on 14 January, Maira Mora, the Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, described the visa-free regime as a "beacon", a next step, which should be discussed only after the current talks are completed.
Technically, visa liberalisation talks would be a logical next step after a visa facilitation arrangement. However, time will tell whether or not the parties are able to take this first step without stumbling.
Maira Mora denied that the EU had made changes to the European Commission's mandate conditional on the release of political prisoners. Regardless, in order to start talks on the visa-free movement of people, Belarus and the EU would need a brand-new relationship based on common values and mutual trust. Realistically, for the near future both parties will content themselves with the simplification of the visa regime.
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https://belarusdigest.com/story/belarus-eu-visa-free-travel-an-unrealistic-prospect/
Igar Gubarevich is a senior analyst of the Ostrogorski Centre in Minsk. For a number of years he has been working in various diplomatic positions at the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.
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Tags Diplomacy Eastern Partnership European Union foreign policy Latvia Schengen visa for Belarus Visas
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Siarhei Bohdan21 January 2015
Who is Mr Kosinets? The Rise of the Second Most Powerful Man in Belarus
On 27 December, Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka appointed Alyaksandr Kosinets as the head of the Presidential Administration.
In less than a decade, Kosinets rose from the position of dean of a provincial university to one of the top offices in the country, effectively becoming the second most powerful man in Belarus.
Kosinets has become known not only for his exotic initiatives like painting every type of public transportation into a specific colour, but also for his statements and actions in support of Belarusian sovereignty.
While working outise Minsk, although undoubtedly with central government's consent, he punished displays of Russian nationalism among Belarusian public servants, and erected the first ever monument to a mediaeval Belarusian ruler. Furthermore, Kosinets has not hesitated to argue with Lukashenka.
Choosing such a person to serve as his right-hand man, the Belarusian president is demonstrating his proclivity to look for people which have proven their support of Belarus as an independent state. Interestingly enough, these were not the kind of people he appointed at the beginning of his presidency. This appointment happened at the same time as the Kremlin is once more raising the issue of the legitimacy of post-Soviet borders and statehoods, first of all in Ukraine.
Alyaksandr Kosinets was born in 1959 in a village near the city of Orsha in Northeastern Belarus. He made a brilliant carrier in medicine becoming an accomplished surgeon and scholar. At 37 years old he became Professor, a higher distinction than a PhD in the former USSR and quite an achievement in medicine. His list of publications include numerous articles and monographs on surgery and oncology, with his last book – written together with his son – being published just three years ago.
In 1997-2005, Kosinets worked as the rector of Vitsebsk State Medical University. Then came the great climb upwards as, in 2005, Kosinets became a Vice Prime Minister. He served in this office until 2008, when he returned to Vitsebsk as the chairman of the Vitsebsk Province Executive Committee, i.e., the governor of one of the six provinces of Belarus.
Kosinets has become known for his very original proposals concerning state social policies. Thus, he made a point of personally participating in the struggle against alcoholism. As the Vitsebsk governor he went to houses of alcoholics to rebuke them. Another time he proposed to impose fines against people who refused to care about their health.
Yet the new head of Presidential Administration is not a man with a stern personality. Working in Vitsebsk, Kosinets demanded that nice cafes were opened there and worked hard to elevate the annual singing contest at Slavianski Bazar. He spent time trying to promote the idea of building a Disneyland in Vitsebsk.
Firing Russian Nationalists and Honouring Mediaeval Belarusian Rulers
In 2011, an official from the Vitsebsk city administration, Andrei Herashchanka gave an interview to the Russian media outlet Materik and discussed the "artificiality" of the Belarusian language and denied the existence of a Belarusian nation. Vitsebsk authorities tried to avoid publicising the issue and got rid of Herashchanka without scandal. Still, the case attracted much attention among Russian chauvinist circles as the Vitsebsk authorities – undoubtedly with the involvement of Kosinets – fired the scandalous Russian nationalist at the first opportunity.
Speaking on Belarus' Independence Day in 2011, Kosinets said, "Independence, freedom and sovereignty are for us not just symbols, they are our history, our future," and described the Belarusian state as heir to Soviet Belarusian republic but also to Polatsk principality of the early Middle Ages. The following year, he went further, proclaiming that "freedom and independence have always been part of, and are the main priority of, the Belarusian people."
In June 2014, Kosinets opened a monument to the Grand Lithuanian Duke Alhierd in Vitsebsk. Alhierd ruled in the XIV century and inter alia was known for conquering Moscow. In his address inaugurating the monument Kosinets said:
This man is a great politician and statesman. He played an important role in the development of Belarusian statehood, the development of Vitsebsk itself. […] In those times, Belarusians were called Lithuanians. He did a lot to defeat the [Mongol] Horde and liberate Kievan Rus'
Some activists from the so-called Cossacks' with Russian chauvinistic views and Russian nationalists protested against the Alhierd monument and claimed that the monument would have an anti-Russian character. To their dismay, the authorities proceeded with their plans. They were supported by their loyal allies – the Belarusian Communist Party (KPB).
The Alhierd monument became the most publicised example of the rather Belarus-centric views of Vitsebsk governor Kosinets, but it was not the only one. In 2010, following his proposal, Lenin Park in Vitsebsk was renamed Shmyrou Park honouring the famous local Belarusian Soviet guerrilla leader Minay Shmyrou who fought the Nazis in WWII.
Standing Up to Lukashenka
There is, however, one more important aspect of Kosinets' personality – his willingness to defend his own opinion. In encounters with Lukashenka most Belarusian officials back down if criticised by the Belarusian ruler. Yet being the Vitsebsk governor in September 2010, Kosinets openly opposed Lukashenka. Between the two the following exchange took place (abridged below)*:
Lukashenka: Tell me about gains, profitability, money.
Kosinets: In agriculture, we have a profitability of 7.6%. With state subsidies. Without subsidies it would be -7.6%.
Lukashenka: In brief, you are working with losses in agriculture and if it would not be for the state…
Kosinets: Of course…
Lukashenka: You would have gone bankrupt. Do I understand you correctly? So you are a sponger!
Kosinets: The whole country is in the same position!
Since the late 1990s, hardly anybody from among the Belarusian top officials has publicly argued with the president like that. Later on, Kosinets even got officially reprimanded for the poor implementation of some projects in the Vitsebsk Province. Still he demonstrated remarkable resilience and managed not only to stay in office yet also rise to the very top of Belarusian government.
Kosinets, however, has over time articulated some rather unconventional ideas. Like when he called for a 30-percent reduction of the size of control agencies in the Belarusian government. After his appointment as the head of the Presidential Administration he demanded "total debureaucratisation."
Another time as the Vitsebsk governor, Kosinets ordered a list of citizens which have no job to be drawn up, to investigate why they are not working, and if was necessary to make them work. On the other hand, he warned against "revolutionary measures" in solving this problem, as well as demanded more transparency in the public utilities sector, calling for concrete measures to that effect.
Every Belarusian senior official – irrespective of his will and personal views – remains to a large extent restrained by the framework of the existing government. Alyaksandr Kosinets is no exception. Yet this framework itself changes over time. And the rapid rise of this man to the highest of heights of the Belarusian state demonstrate an important transformation in the government which is evolving towards a consolidation of its independence.
At the same time, the top tier of the Belarusian ruling establishment in this case – as in the case of the new mayor of Minsk – demonstrates some flexibility regarding the admission of new members and even new ideas. Something almost altogether unthinkable at the beginning of Lukashernka's time has become an evident reality nowadays – and without any revolutions.
https://belarusdigest.com/story/cartoon-fields/
Siarhei Bohdan
Siarhei Bohdan is an associate analyst at the Ostrogorski Centre.
Tags Alhierd Monument Alyaksandr Kosinets Faces of Belarusian Politics Presidential Administration Vitsebsk
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