Possible ratification of Belarus-Kazakhstan readmission agreement this spring

In line with the decision the Belarus parliament may ratify the agreements as early as May or June. Galina Lazovskaya, a member of the Commission, explained that, in particular, the agreement on the rules of stay allows citizens of one country to stay in the other country without registration for 30 days. The MP reminded that the same procedure is used in Belarus-Russia relations.

The readmission agreement has been developed on top of the rules of stay agreement. The MP said that the readmission agreement is needed primarily for the sake of combating illegal migration and transboundary organized crime. Galina Lazovskaya also noted that the document will allow the Belarusian side to gain experience in this field.

At the session of the Commission Belarusian Deputy Interior Minister Nikolai Melchenko said that the Belarus-Russia readmission agreement may be forwarded to the parliament soon. Speaking about relations with Kazakhstan, the official added that every year Belarus welcomes about 34,000 Kazakh citizens. Over 3,000 Kazakh citizens have been granted residence permits in Belarus primarily via marriages, explained the official. The simpler rules of stay for Belarusian and Kazakh citizens is a step forward brought about by the creation of the Customs Union and the future Eurasian Economic Union. Still Kazakh citizens have to remember to bring their passports instead of plastic identity cards when travelling to Belarus, BelTA reports.

BelTA reported earlier that the two Belarus-Kazakhstan agreements were signed in October 2013. The Belarus-Russia agreement on readmission was signed in November 2013. Apart from these countries Belarus has signed a readmission agreement with Turkey only. Work is in progress to sign a readmission agreement with the European Union.