Łukašenka approves visa waiver extension for Latvia, Lithuania, Poland

December 20, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka has supported the foreign ministry’s decision to maintain Belarus’ visa waiver program for travelers from Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland until the end of 2024, his press office said in a statement.

The program came into force in April 2022 for Latvians and Lithuanians, and in July 2022 for Poles.

It showed Belarus’ openness to restoring “normal and equal” cooperation with the neighboring states, officials said at the time. They also cited people-to-people contacts as a way to overcome an “information blockade.”

Some 790,000 foreigners have visited Belarus since the visa requirement was lifted: about 490,000 from Lithuania, about 237,000 from Latvia, and about 63,000 from Poland, according to the Belarusian border authority.