Fewer Baltics nationals using Belarus’ visa waiver – border guards

September 5, BPN. Last week, Belarusian border guards registered a total of 10,322 entries by Latvian, Lithuanian, and Polish nationals, which is 1,261 fewer than the previous week, the Belarusian State Border Committee reported.

A total of 222.283 entries by foreigners have been registered, including 142,240 by Lithuanians and 73,954 by Latvians who do not need visas since April 15, as well as 6,089 by Poles who do not need visas since July 1.

The three countries’ officials have discouraged their compatriots from visiting Belarus over safety concerns.

Alaksandr Łukašenka claimed in April that authorities in neighboring countries had prohibited Latvians and Lithuanians from traveling to Belarus.

In early August, he announced that Belarus would speed up the procedure for granting citizenship to Lithuanians, Latvians, and Poles. Lithuania interpreted the announcement as populism and propaganda.