Belarus, Lithuania to sign local border traffic agreement soon

MINSK, 4 October (BelTA) – Belarus and Lithuania are set to sign an agreement on small-scale local border traffic any day now, Chairman of the State Border Committee of Belarus Igor Rachkovsky told media on 4 October. In line with the agreement, residents of the near-border zones will be given the right to simplified border crossing rules. It will also increase the export of tourist services. Speaking about the increasing number of Georgia citizens illegally trying to cross the Belarusian-Lithuanian border, Igor Rachkovsky noted that the Belarusian frontier guards do not observe any ‘wave of Georgians running to Lithuania’. In his words, there are political and economic emigrants from different countries, who try to cross Belarusian border. The illegal migration has become the fourth most significant international crime after traffic in drugs, arms, etc. Rachkovsky compared today’s illegal migration with the Great Migrations period. “It is very important that Belarus partakes in the discussion of such issues as a full-fledged member instead of being an observer. Belarus has been proposed to chair a working group for fighting illegal migration.

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