Gunnar Wiegand: Agreement on easing visa regulations, readmission agreement are ready for signing

The only issue which is being debated are the diplomatic passports that have to meet security standard, Deputy Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia of the EEAS said.

“Negotiations on facilitating visa procedures went well. Actually I can say that the text of the document is ready for signing as well as the readmission agreement”, - said Gunnar Wiegand, Deputy Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia of the European External Action Service (EEAS) during a press conference in the European Union representative office in Minsk on 9 December.

The official specified that both agreements are ready for signing but the diplomatic passports have to meet security standards. It is the only issue, which is being debated. “We hope it will be resolved soon,” BelTA quotes him saying so.

The delegation of representatives of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Directorate-General for European Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) of the European Commission, and the Directorate-General for Trade (DG Trade) of the European Commission was in Minsk on 9-10 December on a working visit. The delegation is led by Gunnar Wiegand and Katarina Mathernova, DG NEAR Deputy Director General. Members of the delegation met with representatives of the Belarus government, heads of diplomatic missions of the European Union member states, and representatives of international organizations for the sake of evaluating the state of Belarus-EU affairs and discussing further steps.