NGOs, think tanks form Belarus visa-free group

A group of Belarusian NGOs and think tanks have banded together to form a visa-liberalization coalition called VISA-FREE.

‘We will make every effort to assist civic initiatives in Belarus in this ambitious undertaking,” said Tomas Tomilinas of Belarus Watch, the Lithuanian partner of the coalition. “Actually, initiating a dialogue with our European colleagues on facilitating people-to-people contacts should be a task for the government of Belarus. However, as the authorities are hesitant to remove artificial barriers, it is up for the civil society to make its voice heard.”

The coalition engaged in the VISA-FREE campaign will promote arguments for lifting the visa regime, which the coalition says has failed to combat illegal migration and organized crime, while hindering economic, cultural, and community ties.

“Being a survival of the Cold War, the visa regime is a major obstacle for the pro-European aspirations of the Belarusian public,” said Dzianis Melyantsou, a political analyst with the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISS), which is also a member of the NoVisa project. “The highly bureaucratic visa-application procedure is making the situation even worse.”

Surveys suggest opportunities of free travel to the EU member states are the highest among the expectations of the Belarusians, according to the campaign. Facilitation of short-term trips is a priority for the upcoming campaign.