Commission Starts Negotiations of Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements with Belarus

Commission DG for Home Affairs, Stefano Manservisi and Belarus Deputy Foreign Minister Alena Kupchyna met in Brussels to launch the negotiations on Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements between the EU and Belarus. Since 2011 the Commission has been regularly reminding of its readiness to launch the negotiations.

The negotiations will focus on agreements to facilitate the procedures for issuing short-stay visas as well as the readmission of irregular migrants between the European Union and Belarus.

Once negotiated in parallel, the agreements on visa facilitation and readmission can only enter into force simultaneously.

Source: http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/belarus/press_corner/all_news/news/2014/04022014_01_en.htm

News of Belarus

4th August in the world. Results of the action

Thousands of people around the world joined the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus civil society. Human rights defenders, civil activists, politicians, artists and ordinary citizens from 15 countries of the world took part in actions of solidarity on 4 August.

International Day of Solidarity with Civil Society of Belarus to be held on 4 August

NGOs from different countries of the world announced the International Day of Solidarity with Civil Society of Belarus. It will be held on 4 August, on the second anniversary of the arrest of a well-known Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski.
The action is created as a demonstration of solidarity with civil society of Belarus and of moral support to human rights defenders and activists, who continue their work in the country, dubbed “Europe’s last dictatorship.”

International Observation Mission in Belarus will appoint the Representative on Human Rights Defenders

The International Observation Mission of the Committee on International Control over the Human Rights Situation in Belarus has announced the opening of the contest for the post of the Representative on Human Rights Defenders.