At the meeting, a draft document was presented that exiled Belarusians could use as their ID, show to confirm their citizenship, and, in a perfect scenario, travel with. Although there is still a lot of work ahead, an important first step has been taken in this direction to ensure that the document is in line with international standards. Consultations with foreign ministers on the issuance of such temporary documents and the simplification of stay for exiled Belarusians will take place in March-April. The European Commission supports the development of democratic Belarus’ passports.
In addition, the parties discussed the simplification of visa procedures. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for issuing more humanitarian visas allowing Belarusians to leave the country, as well as extending their validity terms and issuing long-term Schengen visas for 2, 3, and 5 years.
They discussed the corrupt practices that need to be stopped. Poland has taken an important step to make visa registration faster and not allow intermediaries to manipulate visa issuance. However, it is important that these practices are systematically resolved at the EU level. They also discussed simplifying the issuance of migration documents to Belarusians in the EU, so that apostilles and police clearance certificates are not required, and the processing time for Belarusians is faster. Democratic forces are ready to help verify citizens so that those who are not involved in crimes against humanity or war can travel.
They also talked about opening humanitarian corridors in the event of escalation and border closures, so that Belarusians who are fleeing persecution and war can safely leave the country.
