The Council of the European Union has authorized the European Commission to begin talks on visa facilitation and readmission agreements between the EU and Belarus, the EU Council’s spokesman Jochen Muller.
"Yesterday the Council unanimously voted to authorise the European Commission to begin talks with Belarus on this issue when it sees fit," Mr. Muller said.
"This decision is a sign for the Belarusian people that our attitude to them differs from our attitude to Aleksandr Lukashenko and some other individuals in Belarus," he said.
The Belarusian foreign ministry refused to say anything to BelaPAN regarding visa facilitation and readmission talks with the EU.
On January 31, the Council of the European Union imposed asset freezes and travel bans on nearly 160 Belarusian government officials and other individuals who are deemed involved in election frauds and a post-election crackdown on political opponents. The Council also agreed that access to national visas and, subsequently, to the Schengen visa for common citizens of Belarus should be facilitated.
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