On February 6, Minsk /BelTA correspondent/. The issuance of the first permits for cross-border movement to residents of the border territories of Belarus and Latvia is expected after February 20. This was announced on the STV TV channel by the Head of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Alexander Ostrovsky, BelTA reports. According to him, since February 1, the Belarusian consulate in Daugavpils and the Latvian consulate in Vitebsk have started accepting documents for the issuance of permits for cross-border movement to residents of the border territories of Belarus and Latvia. "The issuance of permits has not begun, but the acceptance of documents for consideration of issues. This procedure takes 20 days," noted Alexander Ostrovsky. Several years ago, Belarus began working on the texts of agreements on cross-border movement with Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland almost simultaneously. In February 2010, an agreement was signed with Poland, in August 2010 – with Latvia, and in October 2010 – with Lithuania. "According to our information, Lithuania is actively preparing for the implementation of the agreement. Our readiness is also high," explained the Head of the Department. "Speaking about Poland, this issue lies entirely within the scope of the relevant political background of bilateral relations," added the MFA representative. He also emphasized that cross-border movement is a common practice in the European Union. "As part of the good neighborliness policy, a decision was made to establish an simplified border crossing procedure for citizens of countries bordering the European Union," Alexander Ostrovsky pointed out. -0-

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