EU hopes to ease visa regime with Belarus in 2018

The European Union (EU) and Belarus may sign visa facilitation and readmission agreements by the end of the year, Andrea Wiktorin, head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, told local media on Tuesday.

The official said the readmission agreement will be signed when the visa facilitation agreement is ready to be signed. She expressed the hope that this would happen by the end of 2018.

Held in Brussels on Oct. 11, the negotiations between the EU and Belarus was very constructive, Wiktorin said. The parties agreed on the main issues of the text of the agreements, she added.

After signing the agreements, the cost of Schengen visas for Belarusian citizens is expected to fall from 60 euros to 35 euros.

The negotiations on visa facilitation and readmission between the EU and Belarus have been going on since January 2014.